


A Rather Decisive Experiment

by PoisonPikeQueen



Category: Rockman | Mega Man Classic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Puns, Existential Crisis, Gay Robots, M/M, Mentions of a lot of characters, Sad Robots, it's like a continuation of my nsfw except it's sfw and an actual story??
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-06-06 17:11:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 177,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6762763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoisonPikeQueen/pseuds/PoisonPikeQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To live is to grow and adapt. To do so, one must learn to make their own decisions. A fundamental rule easily applied to humans, but does it apply to robots as well? (AU where Wily throws his failures in the garbage. Takes place in-between Megaman 9 and Megaman 10.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Friendly Hike

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hi, I've returned, and now I've actually beaten MM2 and MM3, hahahahaha! So I got a lot of support from a lot of my RL friends and a comment on my NSFW Metal/Crash fic, so I decided to go for it and write a bigger fic. I have no idea if I want this to be drama, comedy, cute fluff, or super edgy, so uhh... fuck it. I'll wing it, haha. I also decided that I'll write more NSFW but they will be kept separate from this specific fiction and will be one-shots. I think I'll add all this as a series or something later. Enjoy! :D

“So, are we there yet?” 

“We’re just about halfway there. How’s your energy?” 

“I’m still good. Wait, how do you know where we’re going?” 

“I’ve been down this path a few times already, I’ve mapped it out and memorized it by now.” 

“Okay, fine. But why are we going here again? I thought we weren’t supposed to be there.” 

The red robot huffed, not because he needed to breathe, but rather it was a force of habit by now. Now under any normal circumstances, this robot’s partner would be unmistakably correct in every aspect of what he said. In the world they live in, robots are a rather important and sensitive topic among social and political issues, one such related issue being the conscience and alignment of robots and their relation to their owners. Unfortunately to the robots, this ties in with them. Every time this robot reminded himself of it, he couldn’t help but shudder a bit with unease; they were robots created by the mad scientist Dr. Wily… Built as weapons for the purpose of world domination. 

And they needed to see their master’s arch nemesis, Dr. Light. World-renowned scientist, benevolent leading member of the robotics movement, proud father of the world’s greatest robot hero, Megaman, along with countless other creations birthed from his innovation. But...

“Crash, I’ve already told you before… right now, he’s the only doctor we can go to in order to fix your ‘problem’, remember? And there’s more than just that as well.” 

The orange robot, known as Crash Man, knew well enough already. Living everyday without hands was a clear reminder for him what his problem was, and that was his inability to fire his signature weapon, the Crash Bomber. For whatever reason, he cannot detonate his own bombs. Not even the manual switch works. Something must be jammed, or disabled, as his partner suggested. How he longed for the satisfying sounds and sights of explosions caused by him… It was driving him mad to be denied something that felt so utterly and completely natural to him. 

“I know my problem! No need to rub it in, okay? Okay! It’s just… weird, you know, Metal?” Crash said defensively. 

The other robot, Metal Man, nodded in understanding. “I’m not making fun of you, I’m just saying. And yeah, I know it’s weird. But the Dr. Cossack we’ve heard about lives on another continent, and Wily isn’t an option for us.” 

Crash frowned and slowed to a stop, the other soon doing the same. He dumped a burlap sack he was carrying over his back. His partner went and picked up said object. “This thing keeps slipping off of me. You should’ve carried it from the start.” Crash huffed, to ventilate himself. “Plus, you have hands. ...This forest is huge… you sure we’re almost there?” 

Metal slung the burlap sack over his shoulder, only to hear a loud tear. He turned and saw that he ripped the bag with his own literal shoulder blades. “Oh, woops. Guess we’ll need a new one of that, too.” Good thing it was empty. “Also, c’mere. I’ll show you how close we are.” He beckoned the orange Robot Master over, and they continued to walk uphill through the woods, until they approached clearing with a mountainside road. They leaned over the guardrail and looked down, Crash’s eyes widening at how high up they were on this mountain. Metal got his attention and pointed towards the horizon, where the green mountainside dipped a little. “There. Do you see it?” 

“Where am I supposed to look…?” Crash squinted his eyes. Metal grabbed his chin and gently guided it a little in the right direction. 

“Over there, a little far away. You see that green hill?” He asked. 

Crash squinted harder, his optics doing their best to zoom in and focus. He wasn’t built to have top-of-the-line eyesight and perception, not like a couple of his brethren. But he did see quite a small little hill in the distance. “I think I do…” 

“There’s a house there, you see that?” 

“Yeah, I do.” 

“And there’s a robot dog playing there, too. Do you see that?” 

“NO?” 

“That’s fine, you can see the house. That’s Dr. Light’s laboratory and place of residence.” 

“Woah, really? We’re that close, already?” Crash seemed to brighten up knowing their short journey was going to end even shorter than he thought it would. 

Metal smiled behind his face mask. “Yeah. It’s been a while. Last time I went there was when I found you, actually. Maybe the Doctor will know where more of our brethren are.” That would be nice. And incredibly helpful. 

Crash thought about that for a moment, before his smile dropped suddenly. “Speaking of that, if that’s where Dr. Light lives, isn’t Megaman going to be there, too?” 

Metal’s eyes widened for a second. “Oh shit, you’re right.” He forgot about that. “Uh… look, we’re not going there to fight anyone, so there shouldn’t be a problem, right? Although, I’m not sure if Megaman’s really the type of robot to listen to reason... Guess we’ll find out soon, right?” He didn’t want to think too hard about it, though. Honestly, thinking about that and waiting was starting to make him nervous. “Hey Crash, you want to get there faster, right? I know a faster way to the place than walking the whole way.” 

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” 

Metal wrapped the torn sack around one of his arms and faced Crash. “Climb on. I gotcha.” With that, the Robot Master turned around, and Crash jumped onto Metal's back, who caught his legs and hoisted him up. “Augh.. I forgot you’re heavy… Hold on and grab onto me, okay?” 

“Metal, I would, but I don’t have hands.” Crash said, clinging to him with his entire body. 

“RIGHT. I’m sorry... You’re gonna be alright, Crash. Okay? I won’t let ya fall. Trust me. J-just hold me as tight as you can.” 

“Okay,” Crash said quietly, his mouth curling into a small smile. He was excited but also a little scared. “I trust you.” I’m ready, he lied to himself. He felt Metal’s legs bend and lock for a few seconds. And then it all happened in a flash. Metal sprung high into the air with a mighty force, way over the guardrail and hundreds of feet in the air. Amongst the rest of their brethren, Metal Man was one of the most powerful leapers. Something that Crash Man was not aware of. Crash’s voice got caught in his throat and he clung to Metal as tightly as possible with all of his limbs. His pupils shrunk to dots as he stared in shock at the ground far below them, and his trapped voice escaped in the form of a terribly small-sounding noise. 

“Are you okay?” Metal called out to him. The two were soaring and very soon, plummeting. 

Crash opened his mouth instinctively to answer, but saying something normal would require possessing self-control of his own body. He tried to say that he was good, but he ended up shrieking at Metal instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There ya go. This chapter is probably gonna be the shortest one here, but I could be wrong. I'm really excited for next chapter though, because there's gonna be plot-important flashbacks in there! And that means I can write... I don't know, pretty exciting stuff, I think. :D I think you guys will just have to wait and see, right? XD I really hope you enjoyed this chapter so far!


	2. Cold Reboot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Light has a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, I'm real proud of this chapter. I hope I wrote Dr. Light well. Here's the juicy chapter with all that plot before the tidal wave of gay, hahaha (Not really-- maybe???? Like I said last chapter, fuck it, I'm winging it.)  
> Also here's a Legend for you guys: 
> 
> -Double rows of tildas mean the beginning or ending of a flashback  
> -Single row of tildas mean a scene or perspective change

“Crash, I just realized something!” Metal yelled as they descended into the ocean of lush green conifers below them. 

“WHAT?! WHAT IS IT?!” Crash screamed hysterically, screwing his eyes shut and finding himself unable to control the flighty feeling that was overwhelming his insides. 

“Your weight is very condensed and heavy! And I don’t know how frail my framework is! So there is a fairly moderate chance that I’ll break my legs on landing! I didn’t really think this through!” Metal explained, the forest growing closer and closer to them. 

“SO YOU’RE SAYING THAT I’LL HAVE TO CARRY YOU?!” 

“I’m saying that we’re gonna crash, man!” 

… 

… 

… 

“MEEEEETTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL--” 

Metal was laughing hysterically as the forest swallowed them.

~~~~~

~~~~~

Two months prior…

Within the walls of a laboratory, an elderly man sat in front of a monitor, surrounded by smaller, assorted monitors. His fingers pattered against a great computer keyboard with a methodical precision. He needed to get this software information sorted, then a status report on his updated creations typed and filed, and then after that, he promised that he’d spend more time with his ‘children.’ And then there’s the press conference on Monday to prepare for… 

A roboticist’s work was never done, not that it mattered to Dr. Thomas Light, since he greatly enjoyed his work. To create a robot, from a concept into blueprints into a fully functioning aid to society, it brought him a happiness and peace that he only wished the rest of the world could feel from his creations. The same went for fixing robots, updating them, and sharing ideas with other roboticists in the community. The man’s interests for robots were genuine and pure, and have always been. He just wished that a certain other scientist responsible for more than ten wars also had purer intentions for his creations. Unfortunately, for the last few years, his former colleague has had a presence that he simply could not ignore. 

Those poor robots, Light thought to himself. To only be used for such malevolent desires… he could only imagine what kind of short lives they would live. Dr. Light couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of his nose in irritation. All of that creativity, all of that ingenious innovation! It could’ve all been used to help the people or help robots as a whole advance, but instead, Wily’s preferred usage is to try to thwart him for… He couldn’t understand why he felt the need to eliminate both of their creations. You’re already an incredible roboticist, Albert. What is there to prove by trying to take over the world? By turning this into a competition between us? 

He hoped that he would understand one day. 

He hopes every day that Wily would understand one day and stop trying to initiate wars against himself or the world, or both. I can’t keep doing this, is what he wants to tell himself… or has for at least the past three Robot Wars. That, and he wishes he didn’t have to put Rock through this so many times. If only that were an option, though. Light was fully aware that so long as Wily and himself could still build robots, he would still have to send Megaman to eliminate them for the sake of keeping world peace. 

Dr. Light hit the Enter button one last time before he was done organizing the new assortment of software programs and tools that he planned on testing in the next few days. Before he continued and began on the status report of his recently renewed creations from the latest war, a soft knock sounded against the farthest end of the lab. “Come in,” Light called out, voice croaky but gentle, before his body lurched forward and racked itself with ragged coughs. He immediately reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief and coughed into it. He turned around to see one of his robotic ‘children’, with a platter in hand. A cup of hot tea, a water bottle, and three pills on a napkin were on the platter. 

“Hi, Dr. Light. I’ve made the tea and brought the prescribed medicine you needed. I’ve also taken care of the house chores today and made sure that Rush gotten his regular checkup and playtime, too.” The cute robot donned in a red dress addressed to the doctor. She set the platter on a wheeled stand next to the monitors. 

Light caught his breath and looked down into his handkerchief. He mentally cursed to himself when he saw wet, red splotches amongst the white fabric. He looked back to the robot, who looked worried and alarmed. “Dr. Light…? Are you alright?” She asked. It seemed as though she was more focused on him than his handkerchief. 

He tucked the handkerchief back into his pocket and smiled gently. “I will be fine, Roll. Thank you very much for bringing this to me and taking care of everything so early. …Wait. Has it been hours already?” Dr. Light said, chuckling. 

Upon seeing and hearing the doctor’s smile and reassurance, Roll seemed to calm down. “It’s been almost six hours, Doctor. You’re always so busy at work… isn’t it almost time for you to rest for the day?” She asked. 

“Rest? But how can I rest when there is so much to be done?” Light said lightheartedly, but earned a stern look from Roll anyways. “Don’t worry about me, my child. I will rest today, I assure you.” Roll’s look remained the same while nodding her head. She passed the water and pills to Light, who reluctantly took them. Their eyes met again and it was like Roll was silently yelling at him. “Alright, alright, I will finish this work first thing in the morning tomorrow.” 

Roll’s face brightened considerably. “Oh phew! Thank goodness for that! For one second, I thought I needed to call in Time Man to tell you the time and remind you to take breaks.” 

“Please, Roll, that’s not necessary. Time is a very busy robot, and to be frank, is not very good at changing his schedule. I would only damper his work and mood.” He laughed softly while suppressing the urge to cough in front of Roll. “Allow me one moment to shut down the computers before I join you and Rock upstairs, please.” 

Roll nodded. “Alright, Doctor Light. I also hope that you feel better soon! I’ll be upstairs cooking dinner.” And with that, she headed back towards the door. Dr. Light held his smile for a moment, before turning back to his computer, and coughing more. He hated when his physicians and doctors were right. It seems like he wouldn’t be fighting with Wily for much longer if he keeps coughing up blood like this. He hasn’t found the time yet to tell Rock or Roll of his… physical condition yet. He’s been so busy lately and he needed to find a moment where all three of them weren’t preoccupied with work, errands, and duties. It was important for them to know and it pained him to keep it a secret from them, even if only for just now. He dearly wished he wasn’t sick, especially when there are so many projects to work on, when he has children he didn’t want to scare and let down. Or keep secrets from. His physical health wasn't the only work in progress he did not want to keep just to himself. 

He reached into his other lab coat pocket, and pulled out something similar to a USB drive. In actuality, it was a small but powerful external hard drive. He inserted it into one of the computer towers underneath the keyboard. 

A small pop-up window emerged, asking for a password and encryption key, which Light typed in hastily. The monitor flickered, before showing a small window with a blank background and a loading bar. And then a black screen, a blinking cursor, and one singular letter at the top of the screen. 

_X._

Dr. Light stared at the lone letter, and took a deep, tired breath. His largest and most important project, and his very last child. He stared at the blinking cursor. He only had basic notes written down in the drop down menu on the screen. He stared at the empty black space… and he didn't know what to type. 

It’s become something of a post-work ritual as of lately. Dr. Light opens the “X” file, and then sits there for a few minutes, trying to think of something to write but ultimately, only ends up getting a sentence or two out. At least he knew the basic concepts for this robot’s software design. A robot with the ability to make his own choices, regardless of whether Asimov’s Three Laws come into play or not, a robot that can grow and adapt mentally like a human, a robot that possessed infinite potential. Ever since the most recent war… he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Those robots, his own robots, made the decision to join Wily because they were afraid of being scrapped, and only wished to continue serving a purpose to humans… They possessed the capability to actively make their own decisions! It was incredible! 

…It was incredibly dangerous, as well. He was well aware of the catastrophic consequences it could hold, should a robot, even more so a Robot Master in particular, began to make the active choices to become a threat to humanity. If they wished to harm others for whatever reason. Should a Robot Master decide to follow in someone like Dr. Wily’s steps. But that’s why they should possess that free will, he argued in his mind. To be able to resist a human’s commands to do evil in the first place! A robot should not be forced to do something that ultimately in the end, they wouldn’t wish on their own kind, or something that they truly do not want to do, or were not built for at all! Dr. Light took a sip of his lukewarm tea. 

Dr. Light exited the program window and extracted the external hard drive, and began to shut off his machines. He could think about this later; he was making his children wait. He headed into the elevator and went upstairs, where Roll was making stew in the kitchen and Rock was flipping through channels on the TV in the living room, trying to find the show that Dr. Light suggested they could watch together. 

~~~~~

 

It was 10:48pm. 

Light sat at the edge of his bed, and took his regular dose of nighttime-only prescribed medicine. What an awful, unpleasant feeling in his throat. He hated chugging pills everyday. 

Light exhaled and slowly laid down against the pillows on his bed. He was supposed to be asleep about 15 minutes ago, and yet… 

The ability to choose their own fate, to make their own decisions. There were so many risks at hand should a robot possess this ability. The results could end with the disuse of robots altogether, or it could lead to something truly great. But if he were to build a robot like this, he’d have to be extremely careful. A robot with this capability who did NOT abide by Asimov’s Three Laws… the possibilities could literally be endless as to what would happen. Countless risks and yet, one huge step forward in robotics and roboethics. It would be revolutionary, but he hoped with all of his heart that it would be revolutionary in a beneficial, world-peace-bringing way. 

He couldn’t build X just yet. He couldn’t cross his fingers and hope that everything would work out just fine. He needed more notes, he needed tests first. There was still so little he knew despite all these years creating robots. He needed to know if any robot was capable of making their own decisions, of growing and learning on their own. 

…He already knew there was one robot who could. A pang of pain surged through his chest. 

Blues did count. However, under normal circumstances, there was no way to communicate with him regularly. Not to mention, he never programmed Asimov’s Three Laws into him. He loves Blues and misses him dearly, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t afraid of him and afraid for him at the same time. He needed a robot which he could supervise. 

He needed to experiment first. He needed a control group before “X” ultimately becomes his experimental group. Which brings another question to Light’s attention. What robots would he use? 

Rock and Roll weren’t optimal choices, mainly because of their attachment to him already. He could safely predict what would happen should he give them almost-completely free will. …They would probably continue to do the same routines as they have always done, due to their personalities and commitment. His Industrial Series was also out of the question. They were almost always needed for work, not to mention the last time he called Elec Man out of work for a project without at least a week’s notice, the power plant’s robot supervisor yelled at him so much, he swore he could feel from the other line the veins popping in the man’s forehead and the rage-induced constipation. A similar scenario has already happened with Fire Man, as well. 

He considered his robots with recently renewed expiration dates. But then their expiration dates being extended would be pointless if he took them out of the work that he was already going out of his way to find for them. Those were not an option either. Dr. Light rubbed his forehead and sighed as the options in his head narrowed down to almost nothing. He needed a Robot Master who was capable, available, and preferably without any attachments to him to begin with. For just a moment, he envied Wily for always having some kind of robot readily available to use at any moment. 

_Those poor robots, to only be used for such malevolent desires… he could only imagine what kind of short lives they would live._

Light stared at the ceiling. Wily sure has worked with a lot of robots. It’s a shame that he keeps discarding them whenever Rock defeats them-- 

Wait a second. Discarded robots?! 

_All of that creativity, all of that ingenious innovation! It could’ve all been used to help the people or help robots as a whole advance…_

Of course! The older generations of Robot Masters! They could be ideal candidates to test for his experiment! He remembered before the 3rd War, whilst he collaborated with Wily on the Gamma robot, he said he kept the blueprints but had no need to collect the 2nd Generation robots themselves! Dr. Light sat up and reached at his nightstand for a notepad and mechanical pencil. It touched the paper but… 

_Wait._ Hold on. Dr. Light’s eyebrows furrowed and his lips tightened. Would this be considered stealing? The 2nd Generation was Dr. Wily’s creations and his only. Yes, that is true, he thought, but he also discarded them and has had no intention of reclaiming them. Those robots are abandoned property by now. It wouldn’t be stealing. Not only that, but Wily himself isn’t above kidnapping robots, since he’s done so multiple times, twice with his own creations. And he also doesn’t have any other ideas for robots to use. 

It’s not stealing, he reassured himself. He was certain of it. He’s made up his mind. 

He scribbled some notes of his experiment idea onto the notepad and heavily circled “2Gen” that he wrote. He then reached over to the nightstand again and pulled an address book out of its drawer. He flipped to the back of the book, which had familiar number sequences written on it. He hesitated, before picking the second number sequence on the list. He reached for a nearby cellular phone and dialed the number. It took but only a moment before a gruff voice spoke from the other line. 

The sounds of loud and noisy construction work came through the phone along with the voice. “Hello? Dr. Light? Ain’t it a little late for you to be calling me-- hey HEY, gimme some space, will ya-- What-- YEAH, I’m calling someone-- shaddap, it’s Dr. Light! Give me a few and cover my work!” The speaker on the line cleared his throat. “How can I help ya, Doctor?” 

“Hello, Guts Man. I’m sorry to be calling you at such a later hour than normal, but… I’ve got a project that I need your help with tomorrow. Could you please tell your boss as soon as possible that I’ll be needing you for tomorrow and possibly a few days afterwards?” Dr. Light explained to him, before coughing violently. 

“…You don’t sound good, Pops. You okay?” 

“In all honesty, I could be doing better. Roll is helping me get better, however. Is it possible I could see you tomorrow?” 

“Oh, uh, yeah-- yeah, definitely. I’ll tell my boss first thing when I finish my work tonight. What kind of project do you need me for, by the way?” 

“I’m going to test a social and ethical experiment with a Robot Master, and I need you to recover the body of this Robot Master for me. I may or may not need to call in Bomb Man as well for this, too.” 

“Recover a Robot Master’s body... Should I ask what ya mean by that?” 

“I need the body of one of the eight Second Generation Wily Robot Masters.” 

“Ohhhh, I see now. Wilybots, huh? This should be interestin’. Don’t worry, Doctor. Me and Bomb got your back. I’ll give you a call tomorrow morning, ‘k? I’ve gotta cut this short, unfortunately, and get back to my work.” 

“Thank you dearly, Guts Man. I will see you tomorrow. Good night.” 

~~~~~

 

[Booting. Operating System booted.]

[Version 2.009.16 installed.] 

[Core Systems loading. . . Core is now active.] 

[Performing Effector tests. . . ] 

[Tests complete. Effectors have been updated. Is this okay?]  
[ Yes / No ]

A large hand reaches down and gently pushes a key on the keyboard. 

**Yes.**

[All Effectors are running optimally.] 

[Control systems loading. . . Cognitive programs loading. . . New software has been detected on this version. Is this okay?]  
[ Yes / No ] 

**Yes.**

[Do not ask again?]  
[ Yes / No ]

An irritated sigh echoes through the lab and another keystroke. **Yes.**

[Control systems loaded. Cognitive programs loaded.] 

_. . . . ._

_. . . . ._

[Integrated Circuit chip loaded. Testing Integrated Circuit chip. No current issues detected.] 

_. . . . ._

_. . . . I am active._

_. . . . ._

_. . . . I am awake. . . ?_

Darkness. Absolutely nothing but darkness encompassed him. 

[Sensory functions activated. Vocal systems activated.] 

Light began to pour in, albeit very dim light. The sounds of machines quietly whirring picked up on his audio receivers. The quiet hum of an air conditioner. Extremely faint and kinda bad pop music playing on a radio somewhere far away. His vision was blurry but he could make out he was in a large, mechanical room. He didn’t recognize this room. 

_. . . . . Where am I. . . ?_

[Booting completed. DWN-009 activated.] 

He looked down and instantly recognized his own body. His hands twitched, before slowly lifting a hand up. He rotated his wrist slowly and curled his metallic fingers. My body seems to work fine, he thought to himself. He lifted his hand up more only to find wires yanking his arm back. He could feel. His forearms’ compartments were opened up and wires were fitted into the ports. He carefully lifted his hand up to his head area and felt around his neck. More wires were attached to his neck, and more wires were snugly inserted underneath his chest plate armor, connected inside him. 

Where am I, he thought much more clearly now. His eyes wandered and he immediately took note that he was laying on some kind of metal operating table now. Nearby were obnoxiously bright computer screens. He blinked rapidly a few times as his optics recalibrated. He could tell now that he was most definitely inside some sort of robotics laboratory. That could mean a couple of things. 

Where the hell am I, he thought. He felt something well up inside him. An emotion of some sort. He allowed the first emotion to come through-- Fear. The second-- Panic. 

He tried to lean forward, but the wires pulled him back down. His eyes widened and looked everywhere until they found a familiar-looking man with white hair in a white coat typing away at a very large computer keyboard. It didn’t necessarily calm him down. 

“Dr. Wily?” His voice was soft and a little deep. Thank everything he could speak. 

The man turned in his direction and the robot was overwhelmed with confusion. “...You’re not Dr. Wily.” He said aloud, as if to confirm. He felt his core go cold, and his fears began to intensify.

“Haha, no, I’m afraid not, little one.” The doctor said in a gentle voice and jovial tone. “But I’m still just as happy to see you awake as anyone else.” 

The man sounded so welcoming and friendly, but these were things that the robot did not know nor were used to. If anything, it made his body tremble for reasons he could not explain. ...Okay, that may be a lie to himself. This man was not Dr. Albert Wily, but he still knew exactly who this man is. He’s only seen him in enough pictures before. “Y-you’re Dr. Light.” He stated. What did this mean? Was he going to die? He shivered against the table. “Where am I?” 

“That’s right. And right now, you’re in Light Laboratories. My home.” Dr. Light answered him. He grabbed for a notepad and pencil and jotted a few notes down. “Would you mind if I asked you a couple of questions? I have no ill will with them.” 

Did he have a choice in that matter? Probably, but he couldn’t see why he shouldn’t let him ask them. It’ll probably help them both out. Dr. Wily never had mentioned anything about Dr. Light being an untrustworthy person. “Sure,” he said. 

“Good. First, what is your name?” 

What kind of question was that? “...My name is Metal Man.” Dr. Light scribbled something quickly on his notepad. 

“What’s your series and model number?” 

Metal Man hesitated for a bit. Was… was he supposed to give away this kind of information to someone like Dr. Light? Was he allowed to? He supposed he’d figure that out later. “....DWN-009.” He said softly. 

“Yes, that’s right. You’re doing a good job so far. I only have one more question.” Dr. Light said. “But before I ask it, you remember how to breathe, right? Breathe now and try your best to remain level-headed and calm.” 

Metal did not question him and inhaled through the small ventilation openings in his face mask. He felt the cool air rush down into his body and it brought him a little relief amongst his nervousness. Why was he in Dr. Light’s laboratory? Did Dr. Light do something to him? He was afraid. But he continued to breathe and try not to let his fear overtake him. 

“Good job. Now Metal Man, could you please tell me what your last memory is?” 

Metal breathed a little harder. His last memory…? What… what was his last memory? He accessed his memory data bank and flipped through thousands of memories he’s had whilst active last. God, there were so many distinct memories he had. From his first day, to his time at Dr. Wily’s Castle, to his preparations and battles, to… to… He saw something flash right in front of him, sleek and shiny and thin, ripping apart his synthetic skin and wires, the excruciating pain he felt if only for a second-- 

Metal’s eyes widened and he gasped, before screwing his eyes shut and jerking his body against the wires for a second. His whole body trembled and he wanted to hug himself. That’s what he did, well, what he sort-of did, thanks to the wires connected to his arms. “Megaman…! He…” Breathe, Metal. Remember to breathe, he instructed himself mentally. “…I was fighting Megaman. A second time. In the teleporter room. We were his last defense. A-and… …Megaman threw my own Metal Blade at me… and cut my head off.” 

“I see… You remember everything.” Dr. Light said, his brows furrowed at Metal’s description. He did indeed remember Guts Man and Bomb Man bringing in his body in two pieces instead of one. If Metal didn’t know any better, it almost looked like Dr. Light looked sympathetic. But that can’t be right. Could it? And speaking of the little blue devil… 

Metal shifted uncomfortably. “Is… is Megaman here?” 

Dr. Light looked at him. “No, he is not. Right now, he is out of town with one of his brothers. Did you want to see him?” 

“No!” Metal nearly yelped, and breathed again. “Err… no, I don’t.” Another breath. Calm down, Metal, calm yourself. Don’t be scared. His eyes opened. “Dr. Light… why am I here? Why am I active right now? I failed in my mission to destroy your creation, I, I'm a Wilybot. Why… why am I not with Dr. Wily right now?” His fears were twisting up his wires inside… his mind began to creep places-- oh. OH GOD. PLEASE NOT THAT. “Am… a-am I a Lightbot now…?” 

“No, no, you are not a Lightbot. Unlike your creator, I am not a man favorable of stealing robots.” Light took a handkerchief out of his pocket and coughed quietly into it. 

“Then why am I--?! I-I don’t understand… I’m in your lab, and I belong to Dr. Wily… right…?” This was all kinds of wrong. Never in his wildest imagination would he picture himself being cared for by Dr. Light of all people. Something was not adding up quite right, and it was unnerving him beyond reason. 

Dr. Light shot him a look that sent a surge of uneasiness throughout his mechanical body. It was a look of melancholy. The man walked over to a large file cabinet away from the table and computers, and dug carefully through it, until he found a grey paper with a sticky note attached to it. He walked to the keyboard and typed in a command. With a hiss, the wires disconnected themselves from Metal’s body, making the robot twitch in surprise. He leaned forward slowly, sitting up and watching the doctor. 

Said doctor handed him the paper and Metal scrutinized it. It was a newspaper clipping from December… he couldn’t make out the rest of the date due to a coffee stain. The article itself was small, unimportant-sized, and featured a small photo, and a headline that was as direct as one could get. 

_Factory Collapses in Blizzard After Years of Disuse._

Metal’s eyes widened. He recognized this factory very quickly. This factory in the picture is the very factory he used to frequent while he was active. It was his favorite station to be in, and the very place where he awaited for Megaman’s arrival for both of their battles. His eyes glanced at the sticky note. A simplistic drawing of his head and the words “DWN-009” was scribbled there. A tally count was underneath it with a frowning smiley next to it. Below that…. “Not Retrieved.” 

Metal didn’t quite understand. Dr. Light mentioned that he never stole him… and the “Not Retrieved” written on the note… He felt his core turn cold with a flurry of ugly emotions. Was… he left there to decay? He was left there, wasn’t he? “Dr. Light,” Metal began. He was left there! He was never retrieved! “How long? How long w-was I left in the factory?” His voice wavered. 

Dr. Light was quiet for a moment. “Five years.” 

“F…five…?” Years? Five years? Five years. He was left there for five years. Alone. Broken. Not Retrieved. “P-please take this away from me.” 

“Yes,” the old man confirmed sadly as he took the newspaper article from Metal Man, “And currently, Megaman just ended the official 9th Robot War.” 

“Ninth?!” Metal said in disbelief. His master has never stopped this whole time, and he bothered to have another seven wars without him or his… or his… His core rose up from its pit of despair and heartache for a moment. “The others, what happened to my brethren?” 

“I don’t know.” The doctor answered. Metal brought his knees up to his chest and hugged himself. He couldn’t stop shivering. He was alone, and still felt alone. Where… where were his brothers? Dr. Light then called for someone else. “Roll? If you’re still cleaning in the back, could you bring over some hot tea?” 

A distant “Okay, Dr. Light!” was heard. And moments later, Roll appeared before him, looked at Light, and then walked up to Metal Man. She had a steaming cup in her hand. “Hey, there.” She said gently, before looking back at Light again. He nodded approvingly. “You should take this, it’ll help you calm down. Or at least it’s supposed to.” Metal did not move, but he eyed Roll cautiously. The girl robot hesitantly took one of Metal’s hands and placed the cup in it. 

Metal stared at the tea like it had three heads. “What is this?” He asked. 

“It’s tea,” Roll said. “You drink it usually to relax or feel better about yourself.” 

“This is discolored water,” Metal said, “I can’t drink this. I physically am not able to digest it or convert it into energy.” 

“Well, actually,” Light cut in, “You can now. While I repaired your body, I upgraded your internal fuel converter to be able to convert biomass into energy as well. You should really try the tea, it is truly a blessing on Earth to have.” 

“You modified me?” Metal said in disbelief again, looking between Light and Roll wide-eyed, before catching Roll’s attention. She had this… look about her that seemed like she was trying to tell him something. He looked down at the tea in his hand. Right. He raised the cup to his face, but… He glanced at the two of them nervously. He didn’t want them to see his face… 

“Well, yes, I feel as though I could not ignore the opportunity to add improvements here and there.” Light explained sheepishly, wringing his hands together slowly. He coughed a bit and cleared his throat. “There is that upgrade, and then I also replaced your armor pieces with ceratanium replicas… that’s what your Metal Blades are made of. I also implemented an emergency energy reserve in you, should you be on the brink of destruction again, and I also welded closed the ends of your facial scar so it no longer tears any further than it already ha--” 

“You did what to my scar?!” Metal squawked, and his face mask split vertically before retracting into the rest of his helmet, revealing his nose, mouth, and chin. He looked in the reflection of his tea, and saw the familiar thin diagonal tear in his synthetic skin that ran from his right cheek, through his lips, to his chin. Indeed, the edges of the scar seemed to abruptly stop on both ends, due to welded synthetic skin being in the way. “Holy shit,” he breathed, touching the scar. He couldn’t feel anything from the tissue around it. 

“Oh my god,” Roll uttered upon seeing his scar. It was… not very pretty. It exposed the silver metal underneath his synthetic skin. 

Metal was certainly surprised, but still not feeling amazing for essentially being pimped out by the one and only Dr. Thomas Light. He looked at the two of them, not sure what to say. Instead, he slowly lifted the cup of tea to his ripped lips and drank the foreign liquid. His eyes flickered down at the drink. It was hot. And it tasted… oddly plain. If not a little bitter. “…I don’t get what’s so special about this drink.” 

“Perhaps, it is an acquired taste, after all.” 

Metal closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. His face mask closed in front of his face again. “Dr. Light, there must be a reason why you’ve added so many modifications to me and reactivated me only after five years of…” Being abandoned and forgotten. “No one else caring. Please tell me why.” He shuddered and hugged himself again. He should probably run a software scan of himself too, to see if he added anything new to his control systems as well. He began to run said scan, and so far, all seemed normal. “What do you need to use me for?” 

Dr. Light’s eyes met his, and he took a deep breath, before coughing again. “Well, in truth, I am about to conduct a very important experiment. I repaired and reactivated you to ask if you would like to participate in it.” He turned to Roll and signaled that this was going to be a private conversation. Roll understood and waved bye to Metal Man while taking the elevator up. 

Metal’s eyes narrowed. “Well, this isn’t fair. You fixed me and gave me upgrades. It’s like you’re trying to butter me up to say yes or something.” He paused for a moment. He hasn’t picked up anything yet in his software scan. Eventually, he sighed. “Alright, what’s the experiment?” 

Dr. Light’s eyes met his robotic ones, and Metal shuddered at the intensity of the gaze. “Have you ever met a robot who is capable of his own decisions and choices, regardless of whatever a human tells them?” Metal stared at him as if he just transformed into an alien. And then he slowly shook his head no. “I am soon going to build a very special robot who is capable of this. There is also already one such robot you have not met who already possesses this trait. He is very strong, and very independent--” 

“Sorry to interrupt, but what the hell is Asimov’s Three Laws?” Metal blurted, as he found coding within himself mentioning that phrase. He knew it, he knew there had to be software modding as well! 

“I was about to get to that. You should be able to access their meaning yourself.” Light encouraged, but only because he didn’t want to re-state them and get into another coughing fit from talking too much. 

The Robot Master’s eyes flashed blank and lost his pupils and irises, before his eyes turned black with backwards white text on it. He silently read them before murmuring, “…I know the Second and Third Laws already, but I don’t think I ever remember seeing the First Law.” His eyes returned to normal. 

“Of course, not. You were originally built to be a weapon for world domination. Why would Dr. Wily hinder you from your destiny by prohibiting you from harming humans?” Light explained. “I’ve coded all Three Laws into you. However, you should take note that Second Law has a very loose and outdated definition. Originally, it said ‘by human beings’ a long time ago, but since recent days, it’s been updated to state ‘by its owners’, due to loopholes exploited by Dr. Wily himself. And due to him having never reclaimed you and leaving you as abandoned property sadly, you currently do not have an owner of any kind. Which also brings me to another point I must make clear to you about your software changes as well.” Dr. Light was surprised that he never got into a coughing fit while explaining all of that. He took a deep breath, and then got into a violent coughing fit in the middle of it. Of course. He wiped his mouth with his handkerchief. 

Metal was going to comment on technically not having to abide by the Second Law, but he couldn’t help himself but narrow his eyes again. “…Why is there blood in your mouth and beard? Were you attacked before you repaired me?” He asked, confused and not understanding. 

Dr. Light sighed shakily and wiped his mouth and beard. “No, no, I’m just sickly. Not hurt. It seems that I’m reaching my own expiration date sooner than I thought.” Metal understood completely now. His expression softened. 

“Have you told Megaman this yet? Or the little girl robot?” 

“Not yet. I need to find the proper time to do so when none of us are busy. Why do you ask?” 

The Wilybot looked away, and then looked down. His voice was quiet. “I thought it’d be important for a roboticist to let their creations know something like that. I could never imagine Dr. Wily hiding something like that from myself or my brothers.” Yeah, he would probably scream it out loud angrily and then vow to build some kind of Ultimate Robot to End All Robots before he expires, he thought to himself. But what are the chances of that happening? 

Light looked away, a pained expression on his face for a second, before he closed his eyes and spoke again, calmly. “I will tell them soon enough. Thank you for your concern. Anyways, the other software change I made--” 

“You didn’t alter my I.C. chip, did you?” Metal asked, suspicious. 

“Heavens no, why would I do that? No, no, I removed your cognitive programs’ coding convention that assigns your loyalty permanently to Dr. Wily. That’s not associated with your I.C. chip.” 

“What?” 

“You no longer are forced to be loyal to Dr. Wily. If you still felt that coded loyalty, you’d probably would have tried to attack me or run away by now. From now on, you can make your own choices of who you wish to align yourself to. Myself, Dr. Wily, someone else, nobody… that choice is now yours to make. The purpose of this experiment is to see if a Robot Master such as yourself is capable of living their own life and making their own choices, under Asimov's Three Laws and supervision.” 

To Metal Man, that… he couldn’t quite wrap his head around that concept. He’s never made a decision of his own in his entire life. Was… that even possible for a Robot Master like him? All Robot Masters had a… well, a master of their own they had to listen to. Even Megaman constantly obeyed whatever Dr. Light told him to do. The thought of having no human to be dependent on, no human to run to when he needed orders… wouldn’t that just make him as alone as before? He began to shiver again. He was afraid. Oh god! He would have to order HIMSELF around now…? He wasn’t ready. He just wasn’t ready for the responsibility. 

“What would happen if I declined your offer?” 

Dr. Light put a hand to his chin. “I suppose… I could undo the software changes I’ve made to you and deactivate you, so that in a way, this all would’ve never happened. I could also deliver you to Dr. Wily, but who knows what he will do to you. He’s been through so many Generations of Robot Masters now that I can’t imagine what kind of purpose he could assign you. If he’d even accept you at this point. I could take you under my own wing, but then I’d probably need to modify you once again and try to find a job for yourself.” He sighed. “This is why I find it better suited if you were to make this decision. There are so many options to consider and choose from.” 

Metal’s breathing grew heavier as his fear and dependency took over. I can’t do this, he thought to himself. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t do this, I can’t be alone. I don’t want to be alone. Please. I’m scared. “D-Doctor, could I see that paper again?” He asked in a shaky breath. Dr. Light handed the newspaper clipping to him again. The red robot stared at it, re-reading the headline and the sticky note over and over. “Shit,” he exhaled, “What do I do? I-I don’t know what to do. What should I do?” What should he decide? 

“I can’t quite say, Metal Man. What do you think you should do?” 

“I-I don’t know!!” He panicked, gripping the newspaper article. Breathe, he ordered himself, You’re panicking. Breathe. Robot Masters keep fighting even when they’re terrified. Breathe, and calm down and drink that disgusting tea because the little girl said it would help you relax. Metal reached for the tea and took a sip. He took deep breaths as he processed his situation. Dr. Wily abandoned him… maybe he just forgot about him, and he’d be happy to see him if he came back? …No. No, that’s not right. He’s the very _first_ Robot Master he ever built on his own. You can’t forget that, can you? Dr. Wily’s been through nine wars already, that’s what Dr. Light told him. Then if Wily saw unwanted scrap, he would… He shuddered and wanted to hold himself again. 

If he’s deactivated, then… honestly, what good would there be to being deactivated? There was no afterlife like humans believed, no dreams, there was nothing. The time period between his final moments against Megaman and right now felt like absolutely nothing. He fought him over _five years ago,_ and it felt like it was literally just yesterday, that he simply went into sleep mode and woke up here now. If he deactivated now, NOTHING would happen, and he’d die forever only remembering that HE is the victim of the world’s most humiliating cause of death. He didn’t want that. 

And he could bet his metallic ass that the idea of becoming a Lightbot terrified him beyond his wits. 

He didn’t know what to do, and yet… if he declined, one of those three possibilities would most likely happen and he didn’t like any of those ideas. He… still didn’t know what to do. He put a red hand on top of his head. “Dr. Light, I… I-I can’t believe this. You’ve frightened me so much more today than Megaman wielding my own weapon ever could. Is… i-is it okay to-- Am, am I allowed to ask for advice?” He stammered. 

“You can always ask for advice,” Light reassured him. Poor robot, he thought sympathetically, he looks like he’s going to short-circuit. “Well… sometimes, when I have trouble deciding something, I tend to use the process of elimination by thinking about what I don’t want.” 

Metal didn’t want any of those three possibilities happening by declining. 

Oh god. 

He took a deep breath. “Okay, Light. … … …I’ll be part of your experiment. Can I keep the paper?” He asked. Light nodded. He’s never felt so lost and scared inside a lab before. Labs were supposed to be either a safe haven, or a torture chamber! One or the other! Not this! 

Light smiled warmly at him. “That’s great. And congratulations, too. And remember, if you ever need advice, you can ask me, but I won’t be telling you what to do. Also, one more thing before the experiment begins. There’s only one thing I must request of you. And that is: no matter what decisions you make, good or evil, you should contact me in one way or another every month, so you can tell me of your progress. Agreed?” 

Metal was shivering, but breathing over and over to steady himself. He nodded his head. “Y-yeah. A-agreed. C-can I ask you for a lot more advice now?” He turned and hopped off of the table, and walked up to Ligh-- oh shit, Dr. Light was a gargantuan. He looked up at him. 

“Go right ahead. My first recommendation before that though, is that you should take a look at the world around you and see what has changed…”

~~~~~

~~~~~

“You totally deserved that because of that stupid pun,” Crash huffed at the red robot, who was climbing weakly up his back. His legs were completely busted at the knee joints. Crash hoisted his legs up over his forearms so he could continue the endless circle of piggyback rides to Dr. Light’s laboratory.

Metal’s eyes closed, and he couldn’t contain the chuckles. “I couldn’t help myself. If I held it in, it would’ve just… exploded.” 

“METAL. I SWEAR I WILL DROP YOU.” 

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop now.” Metal wrapped his arms around Crash’s chest and leaned against him. “Thank you, by the way. For carrying me. And also coming with me to the lab. I get really uncomfortable if I go there by myself.” 

“Well, I mean, it’s not like I was gonna sit at the warehouse and do nothing. Plus, I like being with you. I like you in general.” 

“Me too. Except I also think you’re really cute and pretty, too.” Metal cooed softly, nuzzling against the orange Robot Master. 

“Hey, heyyyy, heyyyy, I thought that was a given with me, too! Besides, you’re prettier. And sweeter.” He pouted, blushing. 

“Says the adorable robot with ice cream-looking hair and ice cream-shaped drill-hands,” Metal said, grinning behind his mask. “If you wanna turn this into a competition, I can go at this all day, Crash. You won’t win.” 

“Oh yeah?! Bring it on!” Crash barked as he marched his way to the lab, with Metal guiding him over his shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, what did you guys think of it? Pls comment and tell me your opinion. Welp, time for a nice tea break before beginning Chapter 3 hahahaha! .....and a longer break after that so I can work on some cosplay stuff, too. 
> 
> Also, if the reader wants more cute Crash like the author does, say "aye"


	3. Breaking News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, I'm back again and I've beaten Megaman 5 now! That game is so fun! And my friends got upset at me because I used the Power Stone really well hahahaha. Anyways, here's a bigger chapter full of... IDK, everything, I think. I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I know I did, because, like... I tried hard to focus on cosplay prep, but I kept coming back here instead to write this chapter hahahaha XD 
> 
> Also RIP me, the one time I need to use Portuguese, no one else in my family is around to ask lmao

The sounds of insectoid buzzing was constant, but quiet, distant. Amongst all the various forms of white noises out there, the scientist was used to computers humming, air conditioners humming, his children humming, … ...but NOT insect humming. It is in fact was one of the most irritating sounds he’s ever heard. It was almost nostalgic to him, bringing him back to his college years when his dorm room’s air conditioner broke one June, and amongst his robotics projects were only the sweltering heat and the sounds of feisty female mosquitos thirsting after him. Dr. Light leaned back into a chair and swiped at the air aimlessly as he spoke on the phone. The buzzing only seemed to intensify, and Light considered possibly getting up and looking for a fly swatter, until the buzzing distorted and suddenly changed pitch. The buzzing was actual humming after all! 

Dr. Light’s hand ended up on his forehead instead of on top of an offensive insect who picked the wrong day to mess with him. How could he have a brain fart this large when he literally invited over the source of the buzzing just yesterday? On the other side of the phone, a heavily accented voice spoke through its line. 

“And I saw the interview you had with REPP last week, too. Thank god somebody had it in them to actually speak the truth. I hate the media sometimes.” 

Light sighed and nodded, “I wholeheartedly agree on that. And by the way, how is the garden? If I remember correctly, it was getting renovations?” 

The voice on the other line laughed, “Oh, no no, not renovations, it’s being moved completely. It’s in Sao Paulo now, and it’s soon to become the world’s largest botanical garden.” Light could practically feel the excitement coming through the phone from this man. “Everything is being moved there, and it’s almost complete.” 

The doctor smiled brightly. “I’m very happy for you, Pedro.” He took his handkerchief out and quietly coughed into it. “Which reminds me: You only have your one Robot Master caring for the entire facility, yes? I have a renewed Robot Master in my hands, from the most recent war. Would you like me to send him over to assist you in caring for the garden?” 

The voice on the other side pondered this and let out a quiet ‘hmmm.’ He spoke up. “That depends, Thomas. What Robot Master are we talking about? And it’s still not… dirtied by Wily’s hands, is it?” 

“Trust me, after the war, I restored every Robot Master back to their normal selves. Dr. Wily won’t touch him again.” Light swiveled in his chair and looked at the Robot Master in question waiting in another smaller room, who was humming away and swinging his feet on the bench he sat on. It wasn’t uncommon anymore for Light to find his robots’ behaviors like that to be quite cute. “Are you familiar with the Hornet Man design I’ve shown you about four years ago?” 

“Hornet Man? ...oh si, si, I remember now! That’s the bee one, yes?” 

“Yes, indeed. He’s grown into quite the capable Robot Master now since back then. And his database of floriculture and arboriculture has only become even more impressive. If you need the help with a garden that size, I would be more than happy to send him over.” 

“Yes, that would be quite splendid, but I just need to know… This Hornet Man, he is a nice robot, yes? Does he get along fine with others? I’m only asking because I know how my little Plant is. He’s very sensitive.” 

Light didn’t even need to look any further at Hornet Man on the seat in the other room. “Yes, he is. He’s as innocent and friendly and sweet as a…” He didn’t know his flowers very well. “a… uh… daffodil. I’m certain the two of them will get along fine.” 

“Perfeito. Then it’s settled. Give me one sec, please--” The line went quiet and Pedro’s voice sounded once again, distant. “Hey, Plant! Plant, where are you, meu filho? … … ...there you are. I’m speaking with Dr. Light…” His voice became a little too distant to hear. Light only heard bits and pieces amongst his mumbling. “....Paulo…. …. ….. …..Robot Mas… … … … with you?” Light heard another voice, a distant higher-pitched ‘What?!’. More talking. The other voice speaking in Portuguese. Minutes went on with faint Portuguese banter. 

Light was tapping a pen against his computer desk to the beat of Hornet Man’s humming when Pedro came back to the phone. “It’s done! My Plant is okay with it. When should I be expecting your Robot Master to come in?” He said. 

Light glanced at his calendar attached to yet another computer tower on his desk. “If everything works out fine, I think next Thursday would probably be the day that Hornet Man will arrive in Sao Paulo. Thank you, by the way, for letting him help out. I’m certain that Hornet Man will be thrilled to work with you and Plant Man. It’s been a pleasure chatting with you, Dr. Astil. Keep me up to date, will you?” He said, smiling widely. 

“The same! Hahaha, I will, I will. Feel better now, okay? Adeus!” 

“Goodbye.” Light said before clicking the End Call button. Well, that settles that. Now. He stood up and coughed lightly, before walking over to the other room and gently tapping on the glass door. The Robot Master’s humming ceased and he looked up at Dr. Light. Light beckoned him into the main laboratory room, and the robot followed him. 

“D-Dr. Light? What was that call about?” The bee-themed Robot Master asked nervously. With the look that Dr. Light was giving him, he didn’t know whether to be afraid or curious. 

But suddenly, Light’s face brightened and he wore the warm smile that almost all Robot Masters seemed to calm down at the sight of. “I’ve got good news for you, Hornet Man. Good news, bad news, and then great news.” He cleared his throat. “The good news is that I’ve found work for you.” 

“What, really? You did?” Despite wearing a face mask, Hornet’s face lit up like Christmas. 

“The bad news is that it’s not in this country. Which means that visiting me will become less frequent than it used to be.” 

“Awww…” 

“The great news, though,” Light paused, if only for the dramatic moment, “is that you will be working with Dr. Astil in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In the world’s largest botanical garden.” 

Hornet became starry-eyed. “B-Brazil..? World’s… largest botanical garden? The largest in the world?! Wowie!” His hands came up to his mouth. “T-thank you, Dr. Light! But… um, who is Dr. Astil? Do you know him?” 

“Yes, he is one of my colleagues and a fellow roboticist and botanist. I think you may know him better as the creator of the botanical Robot Master, Plant Man.” Light said, preparing himself. 

“P….P….Plant Man…?” Hornet stuttered, his eyes becoming huge. His hands went to his cheeks. “Plant Man?! Ohmigosh, oh my goshhhhh, I get to work with _Plant Man?! THE Plant Man?_ YES!” Dr. Light backed away a few steps, smiling brightly, as Hornet Man literally jumped for joy. “Yes! T-thank you, Dr. Light! I… wow, I’m just-- I’m so HAPPY. Ca-- c-can I hug you?” 

Light held his arms out. “Yes, you may.” Hornet Man embraced him in an excited but careful hug, as he was almost the same size as Light, but much stronger. Hornet unleashed a string of ‘thank you’’s into the hug. Light was just laughing and patted the Robot Master’s back. “You should probably start working with him and Dr. Astil next Thursday or Friday. Depends on how long the flight will be.” 

Hornet pulled away from the hug and beamed at him. “This has got to be the best day of my life,” he sighed happily. Not only was he going to be NOT scrapped, but now he gets to work with someone he’s looked up to as well! 

“I’m happy for you, Hornet Man. And you probably understand now why I’ve installed more language files in you. How is it, by the way? Can you try it again?” 

It took Hornet Man a moment of concentration, before he spoke in another tongue. “Eu não acho que este é o dialeto brasileiro. Eu acho que este é apenas o padrão Português que eu estou falando em.” 

“Perfect.” Light said, not understanding a single word of his. Hornet shifted back to English. 

“Thank you again, Dr. Light. You’re really the best person ever! Can… can I tell EVERYONE about this?” Hornet Man chirped in glee. Light nodded. 

“Go forth, my child. I don’t see the reason to why you should keep this news to yourself.” Hornet Man gave him another gentle hug, before practically springing away and borderline skipping to the elevator. He was emitting this soft, elated ‘eeeeeeeeee’ to himself. When the elevator reached the house’s wide hallway, he bounded over to the nearest robot in the living room, that being Rock, and suddenly picked him up in a hug. 

“Wha-whaaaa--?!” Rock didn’t register what was happening until he heard the world’s happiest buzzing by his ear. 

“ROCK, I’m so HAPPY! I’m not being scrapped! I’m gonna work in Brazil soon! I GET TO MEET PLANT MAN THIS IS LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE FOR ME ROCK THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR KICKING MY BUTT BEFORE BECAUSE IF IT WEREN’T FOR THAT I’D BE PART OF SOMEONE’S CAR ENGINE BY NOW BUT NOW I’M ON TOP OF THE WORLD AND--” 

“H-Hornet-- I’m-- I’m r-really happy for you!” Rock barely choked out in the tightness of his hug. “B-but-- I think y-you’re crushing something i-in me!” Hornet’s eyes widened and he let go of the Blue Bomber. “Phew, thanks. When are you gonna work with him? Plant Man’s with Dr. Astil, right?” 

“Yes! And I’m flying over there next week! So before that, I’m gonna tell EVERYONE!” He chirped again. 

“That’s awesome. Who are you gonna tell first? Besides me.” Rock asked, smiling. 

“Hmmm….” Hornet put a finger on his chin. There were so many options! He should probably tell the closest Robot Master that mattered to him around here, so that means… “Tornado Man!” He said, his fist and palm meeting each other. “Alright, I’ve gotta go! Bye, Rock!!” He hugged him again shortly before running to the door. 

“Bye Hornet! Have fun!” 

Hornet Man exited out the front door and slammed it shut behind him. Sounds of his excitement could be heard faintly outside. Megaman sat down on the couch, and turned on the TV to a summer-themed extreme sports competition. “Well, that was nice.” Rock said to himself, smiling. 

Hornet Man bounded down the front yard where Rush panted happily and made a robotic bark at the bee Robot Master. “Bye robot dog whose name I forgot!!” He chirped. He took the dirt path that met with Dr. Light’s laboratory and lead to the nearest city, Monstropolis. A few minutes later on the path, he passed by an orange Robot Master carrying another Robot Master on his back. “Bye Wilybots! I’m going to Brazil! YEAAH!” He ran down the path and laughed euphorically, leaving the two Robot Masters staring after him. 

“...how did he know that we wer--” Crash started. 

“I-I don’t know, I’m not even gonna question it.” Metal resigned to himself. 

The two robots made it to Dr. Light’s front yard, where they were greeted by a red robotic dog barking excitedly at them because from the dog’s perspective: ‘New robots!! New robots!!’ The dog did a play bow. Crash’s eyes sparkled. Metal looked disgusted. 

“Awwww, they have a robot dog! Why didn’t WE get a robot dog?! Look at it, it’s so cute! I want 20!” Crash gushed. Metal patted him and pointed at the front door. 

“We’ve got something to do, Crash.” Metal droned and then sighed. Look at it, it’s so... stupid. It can't even tell the difference between a Lightbot and Wilybot, Metal thought to himself.

Crash stood in front of the door and was about to knock, but remembered that he was holding Metal in his arms. “Hey Metal, can you knock?” 

“You do it, your drill’s right next to the doorbell.” 

“Oh. You’re right,” Crash said, before trying to maneuver his drills to touch the doorbell. He was struggling since he had Metal’s legs in the way, and he huffed. His drill ended up touching the wall centimeters away from the actual doorbell. 

“Of course.” Metal said against Crash’s helmet. “Keep trying, since,” Metal reached his hand out, “I can’t even get to it.” 

“Stop it, I’ve got this!” Crash grunted, trying to touch the doorbell multiple times. He ended up poking holes in the wall all around the doorbell. Why must his drills be so sharp and finely tipped? “C’mon!” Crash said in frustration. “Metal, I almost have this, I swear! JUST HIT THE STUPID THING!” His drills began to rev. 

“You can do it, Crash,” Metal supported him quietly. “Also, after that, can you also do the talking, too?” 

“W-what? Why me?!” 

“B-because I’m not good at idle chitchat! And I look and sound intimidating! And what if Megaman answers the door?” 

“You’re not good at chat-- I’m not good at anything, Metal! Just-- I-I don’t know, tell Megaman that we don’t want to kill him??” 

“Oh, you know that first part’s bullshit. And what if he doesn’t believe us?” 

“Why wouldn’t he believe us?!” 

“Oh, I don’t know, Crash. It’s POSSIBLE that we’re Wilybots, you know… as in… created by the world’s biggest bullshitting liar of all time? Megaman could believe in that ‘like father, like son’ crap!” 

“Well, if Megaman thinks that, that just means he’s racist!” 

“WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?” 

“I-I mean just because we’re Wilybots doesn’t mean we’re like Wily! Do you see us deserting each other?! NO! We’re cool and young and we stick together and can think for ourselves… I think!” Crash argued, unknowingly mashing the doorbell into a pulp with his drill and causing sparks to fly everywhere. The front door clicked quietly and began to open slowly. 

“Well actually, I don’t really know if we’re ‘young’ anymore but, uh…. but…. but…” Metal’s sentence dropped as he noticed the door opening. Crash Man and Metal Man found themselves in front of the Blue Bomber himself, Megaman. World-saver, robot-murderer, boy wonder. Megaman’s eyes widened upon recognizing the two Robot Masters and then looked very confused. The two Robot Masters and the Blue Bomber stared at each other for an awkward minute. 

….. 

Metal pressed his masked mouth against Crash’s helmet. He whispered, “Crash, say something.”

Crash stared at Megaman, not registering Metal’s words at first, until he blinked and shook his head a bit. His mouth was twitching upward until he made an awkward grin. “Uhhhhh.” He began. Elegant, Metal thought. “...hhhhi.” He said through his teeth. 

Megaman lifted an eyebrow. 

“L-long time no see…?” Crash barely got the words out of himself, breaking into a sweat. God DAMNIT Metal I don’t know what to say!! Crash thought. He let out an uncomfortable, barely audible soft noise. 

“Uhh, y-yeah, long time no see! We’re, uh… here--” Metal began, trying to help Crash out. 

“W-we need to see your doctor!” Crash cut him off and blurted out. “Like, badly. Like we REALLY need to see your doctor! It’s super important.” 

Megaman looked at the two of them up and down, eyes narrowed. “I… have so many questions right now. But the first one,” He lifted his hand at them, which said hand swapped itself with the end of a blaster. The Mega Buster. “What does Dr. Wily want?” His voice was low and threatening. 

“Hey, look, we’re not pulling out our weapons, there isn’t any need to get violent now--” Metal spoke. 

“I don’t care.” Megaman said, “I need answers right now. ...Why are there two dead Wily Robot Masters at my door, at my _family’s_ door? Why are they asking for Dr. Light? What does Dr. Wily want that he must send you two after him?” 

“Okay, you know what, that’s really rude--” Crash objected, before Megaman’s body changed color to white and blue. Crash’s eyes widened, with fear, and took a step back. He could see a small fan propeller inside his blaster. “Oh-- o-oh g-GOD,” Crash squeaked, screwing his eyes shut, his voice becoming a fearful whimper. _“Please don’t blow me.”_

Metal gave Crash a weird look. 

“Stop that, you’re scaring him.” Metal said to Megaman. “Look, would you believe us if I said that neither of us are actually here because of Dr. Wily?” 

“No?” Megaman said, raising his eyebrow again. 

“Well, could you try at least?” Metal huffed, getting irritated. 

“Why?” He questioned. “Why should I trust either of you?” 

“Because we’re not lying. Just ask Dr. Light,” Metal said, “He reactivated us. He can tell you everything.” 

“I-- wait, what?” Megaman looked confused, but he didn’t lower his Air Shooter. “W-wait, what do you mean by that? Y-you’re lying to me! Dr. Light wouldn’t do something stupid like that!” 

“N-n-no, he’s r-right,” Crash stuttered, still too afraid to open his eyes. “M-Metal’s telling the truth. Dr. Light re-reactivated us.” 

“Go ahead, Megaman. Call Dr. Light.” Metal sneered amongst his agitation. “Tell him that we’re here, and you will see.” Megaman look so confused and hesitant. “Do it. ...please, do it.” He couldn’t forget the ‘please’, it mattered in times like these. 

Megaman went quiet, and his confusion was replaced with a combination of hesitation and nervousness on his face. He kept his Air Shooter aimed at Crash point blank, but he turned his head slightly to the side. His eyes remained on the two. Metal uttered another ‘Do it’ under his breath, and Megaman gulped. “D… Dr. Light?” Megaman called out, loudly. “Dr. Light?” Soon, his call was answered with a distant ‘Yes?’. Metal nodded his head slowly at Megaman. “....M-Metal Man and Crash Man are here…?” 

There was silence, before the sound of an elevator hummed, an elevator ding sounded through the hall, and Dr. Light soon was at Megaman’s side. “Oh,” Dr. Light began, his face brightening up into a warm smile, “If it isn’t my two favorite Wily Robot Masters. Please, come on in, I was just beginning to wonder when the next time you two would visit would be. I’ll be downstairs in the lab. Metal Man, you know the drill.” Dr. Light began to make his way back to the lab. 

Megaman stared at Dr. Light, slackjawed. Metal was caressing Crash’s jawline and speaking softly to him. “Hey, it’s time to open your eyes. We’re okay, Crash. You’re not gonna get… blown…” Metal’s mouth contorted behind the mask at that sentence. The feeling of Metal’s gentle face-touching helped Crash untense from his statue-like stiffness. 

“Dr. Light, w-what’s going on? I’m definitely missing something here.” Megaman said, worry flashing on his face. 

Light turned to face his son. “Don’t worry, Rock. I will explain everything to you today.” And with that, he headed down the elevator to the laboratory. 

“Well,” Metal chimed, the biggest grin possible hidden behind his mask, “Are you gonna let us in or what? C’mon, Megaman, the Doctor’s waiting for us.” 

“...O-okay.” Megaman said, resigned and stepping out of the way to let Crash walk in. “A-also, why are you being carried anyways?” 

“Oh, that, haha. That’s because my legs are broken.” Metal said casually and chuckled. 

“T-they’re broken?! A-and you don’t feel anything?” Megaman said, eyes widening. 

“Oh no, I just turned my pain receivers off entirely. Trust me, I felt it before. It was excruciating for like, an entire minute.” Metal explained. Yeah, so screw you Megaman. Crash headed past the living room and into the elevator. Metal gave Megaman an aloof wave. “Sayonara, Megaman. We won’t take long in the lab.” 

Megaman stood there, never having felt so surprised and confused in his life. “...Oh…” He uttered to himself, before slowly going back to the living room’s couch and TV. 

~~~~~

 

Metal laid on one of the tables in the laboratory and tested his knees, lifting his legs slowly up and down. “Well,” He exhaled, and jumped off of the table. He did a couple of squats to keep testing. “Nothing hurts or feels out of place. I think I’m good.” He hoped that he was good enough as is. To save time, Dr. Light had completely disabled his pain receivers and patched up his legs whilst he was conscious. It didn’t hurt, of course, but the feeling of tools and his _hands_ inside his legs, touching and moving his wires and framework and metal bits was a sensation he was certain he’d never become comfortable with. Metal had forced himself to look away as it happened and watched Crash instead, who had been exploring the lab, before Roll appeared and startled him from behind. 

“Fantastic,” Light commented, typing notes on that great keyboard. Crash sat on another table, swinging his legs. He finished his notes, stood up, and walked over to the orange Robot Master. “Metal Man is fixed and doing well now, but what about you, Crash Man? Tell me about how you feel, too. You can talk about anything.” 

Crash’s eyes met Dr. Light’s with an almost-childlike innocence. “Well Doctor Light,” Crash began, “I’m doing dandy and fine! Well-- as dandy as a robot in my position can be. And right now, our position kinda sucks.” He crossed his arms and frowned. “Metal told you about the place we’re staying at, right?” 

“Yes, he has told me about it. I heard that you finished the roof?” Light said, his voice gentle and comforting and considerably less grating on the audio receivers than Dr. Wily’s. Which Crash wasn’t used to. His eyes darted to Metal, who was speaking quietly with Roll. The cleaning robot nodded and took the elevator upstairs. Metal’s eyes met Crash’s, and he gave a small nod. 

Crash’s eyes darted back to Light. “Yeah, we finished it a few days ago. Thank god. Now the rain won’t come in now. It was pretty bad a little while back. This one day, the entire place flooded up to like…. half a foot of water from a storm, although we weren’t too phased by it since we...” He was going to finish the sentence, but thankfully paused and stopped, realizing what he was about to utter aloud. “...That’s all good, but it’s still not a castle.” 

“Well, I mean, it’s not like we can get ourselves a new castle, Crash.” Metal said. “Castles are almost nonexistent here. Plus, Dr. Wily probably built his castles with his own robot army. If you want a castle from the warehouse, we’d have to keep working on it until we turn it into one.” 

Crash groaned in irritation. “That sucks. Why does it take so much work to make a castle?” He tried to lean against his hand but he ended up poking his face with the tip of his drill. “Ow.” 

Metal sat down next to Crash. “If you really want one though, I’m sure we can make it happen. It’ll just take planning and more manpower… robot-power… Robot Master-powe-- you get what I mean.” And ultimately in the end, that would be a win-win situation, Metal thought. Because we’d have a proper castle substitute AND more Robot Masters to live with. 

“Really? We can?” Crash asked, looking at him, eyes widening and brightening. If there was one thing he very dearly missed from his sucky old life that his sucky new life didn’t have now, it was the luxury of living in a Wily Castle. Big rooms, air conditioning, you could blow things up and the building is still standing… computers, a kitchen-- well, he couldn’t eat food back then but he liked watching Heat Man cook food for Dr. Wily. Crash vividly remembered so much, the nostalgia and want tugged at his core for him to have something like that again. 

“Hey, we fixed the roof. The ENTIRE roof. You know how big that roof is, you’ve seen it. It’s one step further away now from becoming my old factory! If we can do that, I say we can definitely make it a castle. Nothing’s impossible for us,” Metal said, winking and smiling behind his mask. And it only grew bigger as Crash’s face brightened. God, happy Crash is so… adorable. Okay, scratch the win-win comment before. It’ll be win-win-win now because it’d make Crash really happy, too. 

“Yeah! You’re right, Metal. We can make our own damn castle! We don’t have to live in a scrap dump.” Crash said enthusiastically. His eyes were starry. “Aaaaahhhh, just IMAGINE! Having rooms… and air conditioning… and our own computers… and a fridge-- Oh yeah THAT’S RIGHT, we can eat things now! Oh my god, we can have our own kitchen! A KITCHEN, Metal! Isn’t that cool?! We can EAT things out of the fridge!” He held his drills against his cheeks as his imagination went wild. 

Metal turned to Dr. Light. “Well, Doctor? Crash wants a castle, so we need materials and tools. Are you going to lend any, or are we going to be enabled by you to steal from humanity?” He chuckled. He almost felt bad for manipulating Dr. Light this way, but then he remembered that Dr. Light basically reactivated him, only to throw him in the metaphorical streets with almost nothing but a lingering feeling of dread and helplessness and the core-shattering realization that his master has long moved on from him and his brethren by now. 

Dr. Light took out his handkerchief and coughed into it, thinking hard. I didn’t think this through well enough, he thought. He certainly wasn’t expecting the two of them to want to build a castle. Then again, he completely did not expect Metal Man to walk into his house one day carrying Crash Man’s mangled, deactivated body and demanding to reactivate him, either. But he figured it was a good thing that he didn’t predict this. It only further proved that he needed to be patient, learn more, and live longer before he began working on his special project. He wasn’t going to force either of them to do anything, but he would definitely prefer it if they didn’t resort to stealing someone else’s property to make their castle-themed dreams come true. He sighed. He’d probably have to call Guts Man again to collect more materials for him. “I can give you two some tools and materials, whatever I have. But I don’t have much to offer, though.” 

“Yay!” Crash cheered, throwing his arms in the air. 

“That settles that. Also, Crash, I know you’re happy about getting to turn the warehouse into a castle, but aren’t you forgetting something else?” Metal calmly spoke, standing up. 

“Huh?” 

“The Doctor did ask about how you were feeling. Are you forgetting a problem you’re having?” 

The orange Wilybot blinked at Metal, before he suddenly remembered. “Oh yeah! Dr. Light, you gotta fix me, too! My Crash Bombers aren’t working.” 

“Oh? Your special weapon?” Dr. Light put a hand to his beard and stroked it. “What do you mean by that? Could you go more into detail?” He saw Roll return with a tray of steaming cups. It must be tea time already. He took a cup of tea from Roll and so did Metal, despite his dislike for it. 

“Like, I can fire them, but they won’t detonate! Even when I try to do it manually! It really sucks and kinda pisses me off a lot,” Crash explained, before Roll went to him and offered him a cup. “Oh, hi again. Thanks, but I can’t really hold that.” He lifted up his drills for emphasis. 

“Oh…” Roll stared at his drills-for-hands, before setting the cup next to him. “Maybe Metal Man over there can help you out with it?” 

Crash smiled and glanced at said Wilybot. “Maybe. Also, you look… kinda familiar.” Crash squinted his eyes at Roll. “Have we met somewhere, before today?” 

Metal chuckled to himself, smirking. “You don’t remember her? She kicked your ass the first time you two met.” 

Crash’s eyes widened. “What? Since when did THIS happen? I barely know her! I would definitely remember if a robot kicked MY ass! Like Megaman, for instance! There’s no way!” 

Metal’s mask retracted as he sipped at his tea. His mouth contorted slightly before he spoke again. “Uh-huh. Right. Well, you don’t remember this, but when I brought your body over to this lab to reactivate you, you woke up and immediately went into an enraged frenzy. Then, you tried to beat me up, and that didn’t work, so you tried to attack Dr. Light instead. And then Roll jumped in and beat the hell out of you with her broom before you did anything. And then Dr. Light sedated you with the robotic equivalent of an elephant tranquilizer.” He explained, closing his eyes and trying his best not to chuckle at the memory. 

Crash was silent at that description, before pouting and blushing, looking away. “Well... w-WELL, it probably must’ve been unpleasant or something for all of you, so let’s all just forget that it ever actually happened, okay?” Yeah, nobody needs to remember that. He’s almost happy now that he can’t remember this in detail. It’s all a hazy blur to him. Although, it would explain why this lab looked slightly familiar to him, too. And why he woke up in a warehouse with no one but Metal Man, too. 

“I would’ve agreed, but I don’t think I will ever forget that. I’ve never seen a broomstick used so creatively and efficiently in my life. I’m rather impressed with her.”

Roll looked away and giggled. “Heehee, thank you very much~” 

Crash groaned. I can’t believe I got my butt kicked by a cleaning robot, and I don’t even remember it… He thought grumpily. He grumbled to himself and tried to pick up the teacup, but alas, he has drills for hands. He almost knocked the cup over, but Roll caught it in time. Crash groaned again, this time at his inability to complete simple tasks like holding teacups. He didn’t want to ask anyone for help. Maybe he’d ask Metal, but when he was about to open his mouth, Dr. Light was speaking with him. 

“Would you mind if I have a word with you in private, Metal Man?” Dr. Light suggested, gesturing over to a smaller room on the other side of the lab to chat. Metal nodded and the two exited to said room. Crash stared after them, before Roll caught his attention. 

“If you want, I can hold the cup for you. You said your name was Crash Man, right?” Roll offered, sitting next to him. She smiled to herself. “You remind me a little bit of one of my brothers, Bomb Man.” She paused a bit. “...but without hands. No offense.” She added, hoping that wasn’t too much. 

Crash Man gave her a look. “Thanks.” He droned sarcastically, before looking down at the teacup in her hands. “...You do know I’m supposed to be an improved version of him, right? Well, ‘supposed to’ is the keyword. But I feel like a really crappy version almost all the time. Not having hands is a really sucky thing to deal with.” 

“Oh…” Roll murmured, “I’m sorry then. It… must be hard, isn’t it? To not have hands. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to lack opposable thumbs, let alone the whole hands…” 

“You don’t even know,” Crash began, sighing in irritation, “I was having trouble trying to ring the damn doorbell earlier. I can’t type, I can’t grab almost anything, I can’t pick up things and that REALLY sucks, like, imagine spending 20 minutes just trying to grab an E-Tank because you’re low on energy. And then spending more time trying to figure out how to open it with drills for hands. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pissed off myself and Dr. Wily both because of these drills. I can’t…” His expression saddened. “I can’t hold things either. I can’t hold people or robots. It really sucks. Oh yeah, and then I end up poking holes in everything, too. It really makes me feel like a useless heap of scrap.” 

“Don’t call yourself that!” Roll objected. “All robots are useful, and you are, too. You can blow up things, and if you’re built to be better than Bomb Man, that probably means you’re better at it than him, too. Plus, even if you’re technically handicapped, at least you make Metal Man really happy, from what I’ve seen. The way you two look and talk to each other, you guys must’ve become close, right?” She offered, smiling up at him. 

You have NO idea, Crash thought, his mouth twitching up into a little soft smile. “T-thanks, uh, Roll, was it? Yeah, we are. I’m really glad I do, though. The poor guy’s stressed out all the time, even if he doesn’t look like it. He’s also been helping me feel better about myself and my drills, too.” His core fluttered for only a moment. And then he realized something. “Wait.” He said, his eyes narrowing and giving Roll a suspicious look. “What you said before… was that pun on purpose?” 

Roll blinked and cocked her head slightly. “What pun?” 

Crash closed his eyes and grimaced. “...” He was going to hurt something. He sighed, exasperated. _“...Hand-icapped.”_

“Handica-- OH. Oh my god! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that-- I wasn’t talking about your drills--” 

“ROOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLL--” 

...

Meanwhile, Dr. Light and Metal peacefully sipped at their tea in the other room. Metal exhaled softly, and then spoke. “Dr. Light… I understand that you’re only doing it not to hurt his feelings, but it still doesn’t feel right to see you of all people holding back information.” 

Said doctor sipped at his tea and stared at him. He didn’t say anything and Metal pushed a little further. 

“You disabled his Crash Bomber, didn’t you?” Metal asked quietly, mouth contorting after another sip of tea. ‘It’s an acquired taste,’ they said. ‘It’ll get better with time,’ they said. 

Dr. Light didn’t say anything, but that wasn’t necessary. The look of guilt on his face spoke volumes to Metal. He spoke again, “Look, I get it, if what happened when we reactivated him might’ve scared you. But please let him use his special weapon. It wouldn’t be right for so many reasons if he wasn’t allowed to.” 

“I want to, believe me,” Dr. Light began, “But considering his state, it’s very dangerous…” 

“Oh, sure, and I can use my ceratanium Flying Death Saws whenever I want to.” Metal retorted. 

“That’s not what I meant,” Light explained. “There’s more to it than just that. You possess maturity and self-control. Crash Man, however, lacks both. His I.C. chip also has developed in such a way that he’s prone to violent mood swings. And as we saw last time he entered one, he was too enraged to acknowledge the Three Laws I’ve programmed into him.” That, is a rather interesting development, Light took note mentally. Until that moment, he never knew that the traits, well, extreme traits, of a robot’s I.C. chip were capable of overriding coding conventions in their cognitive programs. That was incredibly valuable information, but that also just made this experiment all the more dangerous. 

Metal began to tap his foot lightly, a quiet metallic rhythm sounding. “Yeah, he does get those a lot, and he does get trigger-happy with the Crash Bombers, but I don’t really think that’s something that can be helped by any normal means. There’s no need to punish him for something outside of his control.” 

“It’s still too dangerous,” Dr. Light said. Crash Man’s rages reminded the doctor of another particular robot’s, and his heart ached again. “He was capable of blatantly ignoring the Three Laws! This goes outside of the experiment’s boundaries...” 

“Dr. Light, this entire experiment is dangerous. The robot you want to build is dangerous. I’m dangerous. _Your children are dangerous._ You signed up for this the moment that you reactivated me. And since I made the active decision to recover my brother’s bodies, they’re subjects in this experiment now, too. You’ve gotta treat us like equals, Doctor.” 

“But-” 

“Think about it, Doctor. What would become of Bomb Man if he wasn’t able to throw bombs? Bomb Man can’t be Bomb Man unless he has his bombs. He needs the bombs. And Crash Man needs to… uh… crash? He needs the Crash Bombers. He’s told me before that it doesn’t feel natural or right that he can’t blow them up. If you fix him up, he’ll feel ‘complete’ again. He’ll be happy and feel like himself.” 

Light hesitated, and sipped his tea again. His fingers trembled and Metal could tell by looking at him that he was arguing with himself. His brows furrowed and he eventually spoke up again to the red Wilybot. “I will fix him, but how can I be certain that he’s not going to do something… tragic as a result of his extreme mood swings?” 

Metal’s smirk was visible this time as he crossed his arms. “I have a failsafe.” He paused, before grinning to himself. Get ready, Doctor. You’re gonna get blown away by this! “...I will simply ask him not to.” 

Light looked like he had so many questions. He blinked at Metal. “Is it truly that easy?” 

“Yes it is. I’ll ask him, and I’m almost certain he will listen to me. He respects my wishes probably more than any other robot I can think of.” Okay, maybe he was a little too confident about this, but thinking that Crash would listen to him certainly made him feel nice and warm inside. “And he respects them because… well, Doctor. Do you believe in robot love?” 

Dr. Light raised an eyebrow at him and coughed into his hand. “Robot love? Do you mean robots in love with one another? I can’t say if I believe it or not, because I’ve never witnessed or heard it before from any robot I’ve spoken to.” 

Metal’s smirk softened into a small shy smile, as he looked down into the gross tea’s reflection. “A lot has happened since the last time I visited you, Doctor. I think Crash and I love each other. I mean, that we’re in love with each other. Whenever I think about him being happy, or just think about him in general… it’s like my core suddenly feels weightless. Like my wires are gonna spark or short-circuit, but in a good, nice way. I know that doesn’t make sense. I don’t really know if this is supposed to be normal or not for robots.” But it just feels so natural to him. It felt... ‘human,’ in a way. Thinking that was weird to him, but he didn’t care. He was hopelessly smitten with the drill-tastic, explosive, emotionally unstable Robot Master. 

He looked up to the doctor and saw him scribbling away on his notepad, taking notes faster than he’s ever seen him before. Of course, Metal thought to himself. 

“I’m gonna get interviewed about this, aren’t I?” 

“May I?” Light asked eagerly. 

 

~~~~~

Metal Man and Dr. Light re-entered the main room of the laboratory, to find Crash Man huffing and panting while sitting down. Roll was sitting next to him, giggling. Metal could take a guess that Roll said something that made Crash angry and start chasing her, but he’s just too slow to really catch anyone. Roll then offered the tea to him and held it to his lips as he drank. 

Crash’s eyes widened. “Wow, that tastes really horrible!” He breathed, his face scrunching up. Metal couldn’t help but chuckle at that, getting the both of their attention. “Oh hey, you’re back. Where have you been?” He chirped, rebounding from the tea. 

“Sorry we took so long. We found out what the problem was with your drills, and Dr. Light’s gonna fix you,” Metal said, before pausing. “...I also told him about us being a thing. He was pretty excited to hear that robots can love, haha.” 

“Is it really that unusual?” Crash asked, bringing a drill tip to his chin. “I mean, we just do a bunch of things that humans already do all the time, right? Like hugs, and kissing… distractions… handholding… cuddling… calling each other cute…” Crash’s face began to turn pinker with the more things he listed. “Always wanting to be with you… having someone to share everything with… kisses… hugs… cuddling…” By now, Metal was by his side, snickering. Roll was listening curiously and intently. 

“You okay there, Crash? You look like you’re gonna overheat.” He joked. Crash’s face was reddening as he thought of all the things he could do with Metal. “Hey now, don’t lose yourself. Your mind can go to Cuddletown later. You gotta get fixed up by Dr. Light first. C’mon now.” He grabbed Crash’s arms and pulled him to his feet. 

“O-okay, but when I do go there, Metal, I’m taking you with me,” He said, smiling widely. He pushed his mushy thoughts into the back of his head for later. He composed himself and turned his attention to Dr. Light. “So Doc, whenever you’re ready, I’m ready to get fixed!” 

“Of course, allow me to collect my materials,” Dr. Light said, walking over slowly to the tables and another smaller computer. He dug through some drawers, pulling out various tools. “I’m also happy for you two, finding someone to love and share everything together with in each other.” Unlike him. But hey, he’s gone this far without a marriage in his life, and he still ended up with a happy family life regardless. He turned to face Crash. “It’s a beautiful thing. I also hope you don’t mind if I ask you questions about your relationship every now and then. Metal Man has told me this only happened recently, after the two of you were reactivated. This is something that I’d love to know more--” 

Dr. Light would’ve finished his sentence, but he began to cough violently again. He went for his handkerchief again, but it didn’t stop. Roll was immediately by his side. “Dr. Light!!” Roll cried out, worried. “Are you okay?!” She rubbed at his back as he coughed. 

Metal and Crash were at the doctor’s side as well. Dr. Light tried to apologize but he hunched over further and coughed up blood. “W-what’s wrong with the Doctor? W-why is he bleeding?!” Crash asked, starting to panic. Dr. Light’s handkerchief was beginning to turn red. He looked up and down the doctor, and couldn’t find any visible wounds on him. He didn’t understand… 

“The Doctor is sickly with something.” Metal explained and he turned to Roll. “Roll, does he take medicine normally?” He’s seen his fair share of Dr. Wily chugging pills before, so he had an idea that those tiny little pills are like the human equivalent of getting a bug or virus fixed. 

Roll looked up at him. “Y-yes! He does normally, every day and night, but-- Oh my god, I never gave him his dose today!!” She was beginning to panic now, too. “B-because Dr. Light was seeing Hornet Man earlier today and I was taking care of chores and then I never brought the pills along with the tea when you two visited and then I never got them after the tea and this- th-this is all my fault!” How? _How_ could she forget Dr. Light’s pills? How was it even possible for a robot like her to _forget?_ She stood up and she tried hard to push back her guilt welling up in liquid form in her eyes. “Dr. Light, I’m so sorry! I’m so, so sorry! I-I--” 

Dr. Light coughed, his breath and voice having become raspy. “I-it’s alright, Roll, I didn’t--” His sentence died midway as he coughed more. 

Metal put a metallic red hand on her shoulder, and she shuddered from the abrupt coldness of it. “Get the pills. Hurry, please.” He ordered. 

“O-okay!” She nodded and bolted towards the elevator faster than she’s ever ran. 

The Wilybots both turned to Dr. Light. “Doctor, just hang in there,” Metal said, his core feeling tense and cold, “Don’t die on us just yet, ‘cuz you’d make Roll and Megaman really unhappy if you did.” 

“Y-yeah! Is there anything we could do?” Crash offered, kneeling beside him. The sickly doctor’s body trembled before he put his bloody handkerchief on one of Crash’s drills. Crash stared at it wide-eyed. 

“The other room-- there’s more rags,” Light breathed harshly. Metal nodded and ran to the other room. Crash shook his head and dumped the rag elsewhere behind him, aiming generally for a garbage can. He wanted to try to help him or pat his back, but he had no idea how to with his drills for hands. 

“D-Doc, please don’t die,” Crash said shakily, standing up. “If you die, who’s going to fix robots when they need it? A-and who’s gonna make most of the world happy? And who’ll make more Lightbots for us to fight?” 

Moments later, the elevator to the lab dinged again and its doors opened, but it wasn’t Roll with the pills. 

It was Megaman. 

“Doctor Light, are you okay?! I heard Roll running and yelling about you and--” He paused and beheld the sight before him. Light was hunched over, shaking and coughing, with blood coming out of his mouth. And next to him, Crash Man stood over him. With bloody drills. It didn’t take much for him to put the obvious two and two together. Crash looked in Megaman’s direction and immediately saw the expression forming on his face. The Wilybot’s core went colder than ice. 

“...this isn’t what it looks like--” 

“YOU SON OF A DIRTY LIAR!” Megaman shouted, his body turning white and blue, and he began to fire as many Air Shooters as he could at the Robot Master. Crash yelped and before the first Air Shooter hit him, Metal had jumped in front of him and took all of them effortlessly. 

“Megaman, this is a big misunderstanding! Please, just listen to us, we didn’t touch the Doc-- ah, shit.” Megaman’s body turned golden and he manifested two Metal Blades in his hands. Metal summoned his own Metal Blades and got into a defensive position. Megaman winded his arm back and got ready to slice the red Robot Master into small chunks of scrap, but before he could throw the first one, someone grabbed his arm and held him back. 

“Rock, please stop! They didn’t do anything!” Roll said, pulling his arm back with all her might. She had Dr. Light’s pills clutched against her chest and a water bottle between her arm and chest. “Listen to me! Dr. Light wasn’t attacked! He’s sick!” Megaman looked behind himself with a worried and pained look. 

“I know he’s sick, b-but... but… a-are you sure, Roll?” He asked. 

Roll panted and caught her breath. Racing down the flight of stairs next to the elevator left her winded. “I was there, I’m certain! Please don’t destroy them, they’re innocent!” 

Megaman turned back to the Robot Masters and Dr. Light. Metal looked like a deer in the headlights holding his Metal Blades and Crash was watching from behind him. He saw Dr. Light standing up shakily. “E-everyone… put your weapons down, right this instant.” Dr. Light ordered, his normally gentle voice taking on a stern but breathy tone. Megaman instantly put away the Metal Blades and changed colors back to his default palette, looking down. Metal hesitated at first, but soon put his own away as well, figuring that there’s no need to have them out any longer. Light looked at Megaman and Roll and composed himself. “I’m so sorry that this misunderstanding has happened. This is my fault for withholding the truth from you two. I was afraid of telling you two the most, but I have stalled for much too long.” His attention turned to the two Robot Masters, and coughed into his hand. “I am very sorry, but could you two please wait elsewhere? I need this moment just between myself and my children.” 

Crash shakily nodded. “Okay, Doc.” He began to push Metal towards the elevator, which said red robot was as stiff as a statue. He eventually began to move on his own, shakily entering the elevator. 

~~~~~

 

“Wow, Metal, I can’t believe we both almost died… again. Only in a matter of like, a few hours.” Crash mused. 

“Yeah, go ahead and remind me more about it, that’ll definitely help me feel better.” Metal sighed, “...I’m sorry, I’m just still recovering. I sort of saw my life flash before my eyes...” 

The two of them were sitting on the couch in front of the TV in Dr. Light’s living room. Metal’s eyes were shut and Crash shuffled closer to him. He wanted to pat Metal, but he couldn’t. “It’s okay, I did too. I don’t know if I ever told you, but back then… when we fought Megaman the second time, he kinda… blew me off the whole area we battled in. Like… he blew a hole in the wall of the teleporter room, with my body.” 

Metal’s eyes opened and gazed at Crash with concern and worry. “Crash, weren’t you stationed in a skyscraper?” 

“Yeah, I was. I fell for a really long time, and I screamed a lot. So when Megaman started pointing those Air Shooters at me today, I… I saw myself falling again.” Crash spoke quietly, looking down at himself when suddenly Metal threw his arms around him. 

“God.” Metal said, shuddering, “I’m really sorry.” How in the HELL did he find Crash’s body in one piece? Although he was fairly fucked up, for a lack of better descriptive words. He leaned against him and closed his eyes again. “I think when we get back home, we’re gonna need to just… chill out on that couch. And maybe go to Cuddletown.” The edges of his mouth curved a little upwards at the suggestion. 

Crash smiled softly, “Heheh, agreed.” He leaned against Metal as well, and the two sat there for a short while peacefully, letting themselves calm down and relax. They could hear muffled, distorted pieces of the probably-upsetting conversation downstairs. Metal’s audio receivers’ diamond-shaped tips twitched. Crash adjusted himself and realized he was sitting on a TV remote. “Oh.” He pushed it over and then carefully picked it up with his drills. “Wanna watch TV?” He offered. 

“Please yes. I don’t want to hear the sobfest downstairs.” Metal answered softly. It didn’t take long for Crash to position the remote and hit the power button with his drill. The screen in front of them came to life and showed off a summer-themed extreme sports competition. Some guy was riding a dirt bike across some hills and did a triple flip in the air before landing successfully. The audience proceeded to lose their shit. 

“Ooooh, what’s extreme sports? That sounds cool,” Crash said, focusing on the TV. 

“Isn’t it… like a bunch of humans do really dangerous and stupid things on bicycles and boards for the thrill of it?” Metal huffed. Looking at the next athlete mess up his air trick and crash and burn, he could certainly confirm that it was indeed stupid and dangerous. “I don’t see the point of watching something like that. Shouldn’t we be watching something like the news or something? You know, since we’ve been deactivated for 5 years?” 

“Yeah, BUT,” Crash declared, “The news... is for boring people who want to get depressed. Extreme sports, it is!” 

“The news is for responsible adults, Crash. Ya know… like us?” 

“HEY. I might be an adult, sorta, but I am NOT responsible! Don’t you lie to me like that!” Crash objected before laughing. 

Metal couldn’t help himself but laugh, too. “Alright, you got me there. But hey, you know what else the news is?” He suddenly grinned at Crash. “It’s what we’re watching.” Metal tried to reach over to the remote in Crash’s lap, but Crash pushed his arms away with his drills. 

“No!” Crash yelled, a huge smile on his face. “We are not watching that boring crap-- s-stop that!” He pushed one of Metal’s arms into the sofa, while he pushed the remote behind him. He faced Metal and shoved his other drill in Metal’s face. 

Metal laughed against the side of his drill, “C-c’mon, Crash, lemme have it!” He swiped his free hand at the remote but to no avail. He just needed to push himself more! He leaned into Crash and said Wilybot lifted his legs up to try to kick him away. 

“No, you can’t have it!” Crash giggled, “I swear to god, Metal, I will drill you! I-I really mean it!” Metal’s other arm broke free and Crash tried to push Metal away again with his drill and feet. 

“Hahahahaha, no you don’t!” Metal laughed, before both his arms were being pushed away by Crash’s drills. Oh hell no, he was not losing this fight! Metal backed up for a second, before throwing his whole self on top of Crash. Crash fell onto his back and Metal fell on top of him, laughing. Crash’s mouth came into contact with the Metal Blade on his helmet and he ended up touching his lips against the flat shiny metal. The both of them laughed at that. The red Robot Master lifted his head up and met his ruby eyes with Crash’s emerald eyes. “Unless you wanted to kiss Metal Blade instead of Metal Man,” his smile grew wide and his voice became a little sultry, “I think you missed~...” 

Crash’s smile grew larger in excitement. “I think I did~” He cooed, before leaning up and kissing the other robot softly. Metal returned the kiss, smooching him a few times and humming into it happily. His hands reached down to rest on Crash’s sides while Crash wrapped his arms around Metal. They guided each other, getting lost in each other with the kiss. 

But sadly, all good things must eventually end, and they parted from the kiss, both of them blushing lightly. Metal had that half-lidded, smirking look to him that Crash knew way too well, and their cores fluttered and felt tingly. “Crash,” Metal purred, “...you fool. You’ve fallen right into my lovely trap. Now you’re gonna succumb to my -secret- special weapon.” 

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” Crash said breathily, challenging him. He could take anything that Metal threw his way. 

Metal chortled, before a sinister smile grew on his face. “THIS.” And his fingers went into motion against Crash’s body, grazing him lightly all over. He saw Crash’s eyes widen huge and the orange Wilybot let out a glitched squeak, before yelping and trying to get Metal off of him, but… alas, having drills for hands was yet again his biggest obstacle in his life. 

Crash writhed underneath Metal as his body was overwhelmed with tingly feelings from Metal tickling him. He couldn’t help himself but laugh hysterically from the feeling. “Aahahaha-- Metal STOP ahaHAHAHAH-- THIS-- TH-THIS ISN’T FAAAIR I DON’T HAVE-- AHAHHAHA HANDS!! NO!” He borderline screamed amongst his laughter, and shoved his drills in Metal’s face again. Metal was laughing and god, his laugh was just so beautiful and deep and he always wanted to hear it, BUT NOT LIKE THIS! He squirmed violently and smacked his back against the TV remote underneath him a few times, causing the TV to switch channels a few times. Metal snaked one hand underneath Crash quickly and pulled the remote out. 

“Ha! Yes! I win!” Metal cheered, holding the remote high above him. He looked down at Crash, who was blushing hard and smiling up at him. “I couldn’t help myself. I had to play dirty, hahaha,” he cooed. He leaned back down and smooched Crash again, who still returned the kiss. 

“You dirty cheater,” Crash softly murmured to him, smiling huge. “Next time, I’ll be ready. Now kiss me again.” Your wish is my command, Metal thought, before leaning down and meeting his ripped lips with Crash’s, again. The kiss lasted for a minute before they pulled away, and sighed in satisfaction. Metal slowly pushed himself off of Crash and he looked at the TV again. “You can watch the news if ya want,” Crash resigned, satisfied from Metal’s kisses too much to care about the TV shows anymore. 

It seemed to be some kind of… infomercial, of sorts? He didn’t know what he was looking at, but it was advertising something… boat-related. “What is this?” He asked to no one in particular. 

“...a free two-week tour to the United Kingdom! On this one-time trip, our experienced and enthusiastic guides will take you on a magical journey to all of England, Ireland, and Scotland’s greatest can’t-miss tourist spots. Some of the various tourist spots we’ll take you to are Stonehenge, Warwick Castle…” A painfully fake cheerful female voice spoke about various common tourist sites in the United Kingdom, showing stock photos of said mentioned sites. 

“I don’t know, but it’s talking about visiting another country.” Crash said, sitting up. “Do you know any of these places?” 

“...not really.” Metal said. None of the the books he read talked a whole lot about the UK. Most of them involved France or the USA or Russia, or a fantasy setting. 

“...London’s Vallie Castle which hosts Robot Duels every year with England’s National Robot mascot, Knight Man!” The female voice continued. 

“Do you wanna watch something else?” Metal asked, “Because to be honest, this is pretty boring.” 

“Yeah, sure.” 

“And last but not least, a brand new tourist site to open soon, a Dr. Wily--” Metal clicked the Channel Up button. 

“WAIT! Wait, change the channel back- they mentioned Dr. Wily!” Crash yelled suddenly. Metal heard it too and fumbled with the remote to switch it back. 

“...that was once controlled by Dr. Wily over 5 years ago, but has been long abandoned by now. It’s a fantastic cave with a gorgeous ocean view and unique rock formations, definitely a keeper for the photo albums!” The TV showed photos of an island with a sea cave, covered in cube-like rock formations. “It is also rumored to hold a very special robot somewhere within it its walls, and if you pay an additional $50 upon purchasing, we will take you on a special boating trip to the cave to explore the interior. It’ll for sure be an unforgettably exciting experience for any robot enthusiast! Call now to sign up for the experience at the ‘Wily Mystery Island’ trip on our Scotland tour!” 

The two Robot Masters stared at the TV in awe. And then looked at each other. “No way,” Metal breathed. What were the goddamn chances? Metal suddenly sprang to his feet and frantically searched the entire room for a paper and pen. He was going to take down this phone number and the name of this place and nothing was going to stop him. 

Crash mashed the volume up button on the TV remote with his drill. “This island… I know this place.” He breathed, zooming in on the TV’s photos of the island. Something clicked in his CPU. “Oh my god, I definitely know this place! Flash told me about it! It’s the cube island!” 

“Cube island? What are you talking about?” Metal called from another room, most likely the kitchen, as loud noises of opening drawers and cabinets and clattering silverware filled the air. 

“That’s HIS island! The Cube Island! He said his station was underneath an island that looked like it was made of cubes and that it was secretly connected to the mainland, whatever that means! It’s the Cube Island! That’s where Flash Man is!” Crash said excitedly, pointing his drill at the screen. 

Metal ran back and hopped over the couch gracefully, sitting down next to Crash with a paper and pencil. “No way-- Are you serious? You’re definitely sure about this, Crash?!” Metal asked excitedly. He looked at the screen and wrote down the name and important details of this island and infomercial faster than he’s ever written anything before. 

“Yeah, I’m really sure! Flash told me years ago! And then I told him that I was gonna be put in a skyscraper! And that’s a Cube Island if I’ve ever seen one!” Crash said. 

“Ohhhh shit, we did it, Crash!” Metal said, his core welling up with energy. “We gotta go get him! We… we gotta tell Dr. Light. C’mon! We gotta tell him!” Metal sprang to his feet again, paper in hand, and ran towards the elevator. Crash followed right behind him. 

The two nearly tumbled out of the elevator on top of each other in the lab. “Dr. Light! Dr. Light--” They both said, before they cut themselves off. The doctor in question was sitting in chair with Roll and Rock at his side, all three of them teary-eyed. “Oh.” 

“H-hey, we’re really sorry if we’re interrupting an important mome--” Metal began. 

“We need to go to Scotland!!” Crash interrupted. “As soon as possible! Like, tomorrow! Or today! Or right now!” 

Dr. Light raised an eyebrow. He had so many questions, but one prevailed above the rest. “Why?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's that! Please tell me by the way what you guys think of how I write the characters, I'm curious. :D   
> I hope you had fun reading this! I'll upload a Chapter 4 in a little while, because first I need to assemble all of my self-control to finish these cosplays in less than a month first, and then I will write the great Flash escort mission XD


	4. The Great Cave Offensive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now you know that I love Kirby. :D 
> 
> SELF-CONTROL BE DAMNED. The cosplays still aren't done but I couldn't help myself but write up another chapter. Come next chapter, I should have pics ready of the completed cosplays. But please enjoy! :D This 'bout to get real silly.

Humans are stupid. 

_Wow,_ humans are stupid. Some even incredibly stupid. It honestly boggled Metal Man’s CPU that a human’s capacity to be brilliant and intelligent was dwarfed by their capacity to be stupid. He mentally recapped what had just happened in the past hour: Dr. Light gave them plane tickets to fly to the closest airport to what Crash called the Cube Island. When they arrived at the first airport, despite the two of them being robots, they had to be scanned and checked at the airport for _concealed or dangerous weaponry, and then both of them passed the body-scanning tests._

The two of them passed. Robot Masters. Doctor Wily Numbers, to be exact. With protruding sharp razor edges and drill hands. _Nothing suspicious here._

For god’s sake, Crash Man is a demolitions expert. 

It turns out that travelling robots go through a significantly shorter process when using an airport, they learned. To the airport workers, they were only considered sub-human at best and sentient objects at worst. This meant that only a security scan and tickets were necessary, no passports or additional paperwork since they were not considered… people. And only having a singular backpack made the luggage checking much easier as well. 

The one redeeming point of this experience for the humans was one of the desk clerks asking who their owner is, which Metal lied so easily to them by saying they were worker Lightbots, and they just… didn’t question that whatsoever? Was it a regular thing for Dr. Light’s robots to go willy-nilly through airports despite being walking weapons? The world is strange.

Metal stepped into the actual airplane with one hand resting on the Metal Blade on his forehead and the other gently holding Crash’s drill so he doesn’t get lost. He couldn’t fathom how ridiculous the situation was… He needed a distraction of some sort, he’d take anything. Sleeping, getting cuddly with Crash, idle chitchat, anything. He let Crash into the row’s seats first to sit by the window, which he realized was a big mistake after the plane took off, as Crash began hyperventilating and drill-twitching when he looked out the window and saw how high up they were. Metal never switched seats with anyone faster in his life, and spent the immediate next 20 minutes calming Crash down with soft, comforting words and touches as well as shooting icy glares at anyone who dared try to stare at his partner or say something. 

The rest of the plane ride was spent by the two of them lulling each other into sleep mode via cuddling. 

~~~~~

 

The two Robot Masters only had a couple of items on their persons. A new backpack filled with a set of maps and brochures taken from the airport, their “casual clothes” in case they need it, a “borrowed” cellphone, and the money that Dr. Light gave them. Most of those items used to be Dr. Light’s but they managed to persuade the sickly doctor to fork them over with Crash’s oddly effective puppy eyes and Metal’s guilt-tripping. All of these items, however, was all that they needed. A couple cab rides here and there, and they found themselves in the right town, the right seaport, and the right time to find exactly what they were looking for. 

Dozens of feet away a crowd gathered around two humans and a small boat advertising the very business as the infomercial that they saw not even a few days ago did. Metal could easily tell that all of the people in the crowd who were filing into the boat one by one were tourists. He pulled Crash behind a building and put a hand to his chin. 

“Okay, that’s definitely the crew we’re looking for. Those guys have the boats that can get to Flash’s island,” Metal said in a hushed tone. 

“Why are we being so quiet?” Crash barely whispered back at Metal. 

“I’m not going to risk anything just yet. I don’t know how they’ll react to unsupervised robots wanting to go to a place rumored to have ‘special’ robots hidden away.” Metal explained. He took a peek back at the migrating crowd, and looked back to Crash. “They sure do trust humans, though. Okay. By any chance, do you know how to drive a boat?” 

“...what do you think?” Crash deadpanned. 

“Okay, that’s a no. We can’t hijack the boat. Then, do you think we can take them hostage then?” 

“Why take them hostage when we can just mow them down?” Crash asked. 

“Ugh, I wish we could do that. But the Doctor coded those damn Three Laws in us! We can’t harm humans anymore, Crash. We’ve gotta figure out something else around that.” Metal sighed. It really would be easier if he could just fix all of his problems with Metal Blades, though. That used to be the answer to everything five years ago. ...Perhaps that was also the answer to why no one really talked to him back then, too. 

“Well, if we take them hostage and scare them, wouldn’t that cause a big scene?” Crash pondered. “And then they’ll call the cops on us and have us scrapped or something. ...Wait. Actually, can robots get arrested? They can’t shoot us, because we’re made of strong stuff and the bullets would just bounce off and if they try to tase you, it wouldn’t do anythin--” 

“Okay, I get it, that’s not going to work either.” Metal cut him off. He peeked at the crowd again, and the last few people were getting on board. His breath hitched. “We don’t have much time left. Oh god, oh shit, oh god, oh shit…” 

Crash leaned to the side and peeked at the boat. “Are you sure there’s no robots on that boat? You would think that there would be robots too if that show was saying ‘robot enthusiasts’ would like it…” 

Metal had his hands on his head. “Yes, I’m certain of it. There’s no robots and it kinda sorta looks like they’d only want humans on there anyway--” Metal’s eyes widened as a wonderful idea hatched within his head. He remembered the airport experience from earlier. “That’s it. Oh shit, that can definitely work! Because humans are stupid!” He exclaimed to himself, excitedly. 

“Oh, what’d you think of? Do you have a plan?” 

Metal’s mask retracted for a moment to show the orange Wilybot what a nefarious grin he was beginning to sport. “Oh, yes I do.” He reached behind Crash and slid the backpack off of him. “Okay Crash, I need you to take your helmet off.” 

“You want me to show my whole face to those humans?!” Crash’s eyes widened. “That’s reserved for Very Important Robots only!” And by that, I mean just Metal Man, Crash thought to himself. 

“Crash, I know, but just this one time, please?” 

Crash hesitated and their eyes met. Metal took that as a cue to explain himself and he continued, “You know that we’re both Wilybots. But... do you know what the word ‘wily’ actually means?” Metal said, smiling. Oh man, this was going to be so stupid, but so brilliant at the same time. 

“That’s an actual word? I thought Dr. Wily just made it up because it sounds cool.” 

“Wily means you’re good at tricking others. And if we ourselves aren’t able to do that, we wouldn’t make very good Wilybots now, would we?” Metal explained. He reached into the backpack and pulled out one article of “casual clothes” they brought with them: a long, oversized black coat. He pulled out another article, a silky purple scarf. “If they want humans aboard, we will give them humans. Well, one human at least. My audio receptors, optics, and scar are big indicators of my robot heritage, sadly. But do you understand what I’m trying to say here, Crash?” 

Crash stared at the red Robot Master and blinked a few times, processing what he just said. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he grinned, exposing his shark teeth. “Ohhh, I get it now! Metal, you’re smart! Wow!” 

Crash brought his drills to his head and lifted his helmet off, exposing his synthetic hair to the world. Which was short, white, flooffy, and layered with light orange streaks. It was sort of natural-looking, emphasis on ‘sort of.’ But it was good enough for Metal. Metal stuffed the helmet into the backpack and fumbled with his literal shoulder blades until a loud click sounded and the arched blades popped off. He shoved those in the pack, too. “Alright Crash, now get rid of your drills. This is all part of the plan.” 

He nodded and ejected the two large drills out of his wrist sockets, which Metal collected into the backpack as well. Of course, he had more Crash Bombers to replace his drill hands with, but he watched instead as Metal helped put the black coat over him and button it, and then tie knots over his wrist sockets with the coat sleeves. Metal then wrapped the scarf around half of Crash’s face, ruffled his hair a little, and took a step back to view him. “Perfect, you look like an adorable little hand-less human now,” Metal breathed to himself, satisfied. His mask reappeared. “Alright, we don’t have much time left. Let’s do this.” 

Metal gently guided Crash to the boat where the tour guide was writing down something on a clipboard. “Just play along with whatever I make up,” He whispered to the Wilybot, who nodded in understanding and let out a muffled ‘Okay!’ behind his scarf. Metal brought a hand to his mouth and coughed loudly. The tour guide looked up from his clipboard and jumped at the sight of Metal Man, before laying eyes on the helmetless Crash Man in disguise. 

“H-hello, h-how can I help you two?” The guide said, eyes darting between very intimidating-looking robot and the very cute but strange-looking human beside him. 

Crash tried to say something, but it came out completely muffled by the scarf. Metal took the opportunity to translate for him and straightened himself, assuming a more posh tone of voice and accent. “My master is inquiring if you are holding enough seats for two more passengers to your Dr. Wily-themed boat tour, yes?” 

The guide blinked, before looking down at his clipboard and flipping a few pages. His eyebrows soon furrowed though, and Crash looked at Metal. “Normally, I would say yes, but during this season, we only take passengers who’ve already made reservations. Unless you have a reservation set, I cannot allow you on the boat.” 

“Is that so?” Metal mused, bringing a hand to his chin and stroking his nonexistent beard gracefully. “How amusing, the unprofessionalism of your business, that is. We have already prepared a reservation for this tour. In fact, we were amongst the first to sign up for this tour. We did so post-haste, the day your most recent advertisement was released. If you possess any assemblage of respect for your customers, I insist most urgently that you double-check your reservations.” 

The tour guide began to sweat at Metal’s pressure and flipped the pages on the board again and looked through. His eyes narrowed and looked between the board and the two. “Sir, the only people who have made reservations and have not arrived yet are a Mr. and Mrs. Mandez…” And no way in hell were these two those people. 

“Ah, yes. Mr. and Mrs. Mandez. They are young Master …” Metal spoke the first name that came to mind. “...Cedric’s parents. They booked this reservation so they should show their only son a beautiful cave and a Dr. Wily robot. He loves meeting new robots so, so much.” Metal’s hand rested on Crash’s back and patted him. 

Crash took that cue and nodded his head excitedly, and made a cute noise of approval. 

Metal closed his eyes and feigned sadness and heartache. “But as of this year, Master Cedric’s poor parents have moved on to the afterlife after a horrible, traumatizing car accident took their lives. So I am here in their place to allow their final wish to Cedric come true. To let my young Master see the Dr. Wily robots.” 

His eyes opened and met with the tour guide’s, who had shock written all over his face. Looks like he was reeling him in. Bingo. “Oh my god, that’s horrible. I am so sorry for your loss.” The guide said to Crash before turning to Metal. “But can I ask who you are? I can only allow Cedric on the boat if he’s accompanied by a parent or guardian.” 

“You question me if I am his guardian or not, when I am the sole individual who escorted him all the way from the Capitol here? And have been caring for him ever since his parents passed away? Primitive and rude.” Metal spat, offended. He tried to puff out his metallic chest. “I am a Service Aide robot to Master Cedric. I provide shelter, food, caring, and any assistance he requires for him. I was created and delivered unto him post-mortem of his parents by his great uncle, Dr. Thomas Light. Technically speaking, he and I are both his guardians, then.” 

The tour guide was beginning to sweat bullets at the mention of the scientist. “D-Dr. Light…? Y-you’re related to Dr. Light...?” He asked shakily. 

“Yes. Does this pose as a problem to you?” Metal sneered behind his face mask. “Does this fill your lower-class, lackluster soul with pressure?” The tour guide gulped and the Robot Master continued before he opened his mouth. “As it should. Lest young Master Cedric goes home without his island tour to alert the world-renowned Dr. Light of the horrible customer service that we’ve had the displeasure to experience, it would be optimal for you to use what scarce brain cells inhabit your cranium and allow us on board. After all, Master Cedric’s parents have already paid beforehand to prepare this reservation in the first place. To be denied now of our boat trip… I can only imagine what your respective managers would do to you after you are labeled responsible for the potential lawsuit to follow--” 

“O-OKAY, okay, I’m sorry!! My deepest apologies, I will let you aboard our tour right away!!” The guide panicked, sweating up a storm now. He flipped through the pages on his clipboard again, and took out a page and pen from it. It looked like a form of some sort. He tried to hand it to Crash, who just lifted up his clothed arms up. “Ah-- u-uhh… d-do you have hands under there?” He asked nervously, feeling Metal’s eyes watching him like a hawk with judgement and contempt. 

Crash shook his head no and muffled out something sounding like ‘I lost them.’ The tour guide’s eyes met Metal’s glaring, red eyes and let out a small “I’m sorry” at Crash. Metal swiped the paper out of his hand. 

“Master Cedric lost his hands in the car accident.” Metal said, filling out the paperwork hastily. He made up random dates and names for at least half of the requirements on the paper. “He’s still adjusting to it, so he’s rather sensitive on that topic.” 

“I-I’m sorry,” the tour guide said, before looking at Crash again. “I-is it, ah… the same as well for… um…” He was looking at Crash’s audio receptors. 

“Hearing aids. He also went deaf in both ears from the accident. Are we quite finished playing Twenty Questions now?” Metal explained, handing the guide the paper. 

“M-my bad! A-also, I-I’m sorry but there is one last thing. Despite your parents already having paid for the reservation, there must also be a down payment before the boat’s departure as well. I-if you have the appropriate amount of money…” 

“Absolute rubbish. And false advertising on the infomercial’s parts. Name your price anyways.” Metal said. 

“T… t-two hundred Zenny?” The guide stuttered. 

Metal reached into Crash’s coat pocket and pulled out all of their money that he had stuffed in there during the flight. His metallic red fingers grazed over each bill with ease, producing the very satisfying sounds of money being counted and flipped through. “Well, that’s a pleasant surprise. Pocket change, truly.” He pulled out the appropriate sum of money, but then paused. He looked at the guide, who was ogling the very large wad of bills in Metal’s hand, and he smirked behind his mask. “To think that I originally was going to pay this business a gracious tip, too… but…” 

“B-but?” The guide said, tearing his eyes away from the absurd amount of cash in Metal’s hand and meeting the terrifying red eyes of this service aide robot. 

“But our service so far has been less than perfect, and therefore, abysmal. However, should we get proper customer service from here on out, we may just write in a good review.” Metal smirked. “Provide the utmost respect and ideal service for Master Cedric here, and you may keep your job. However, if you disrespect my Master…” Metal chuckled to himself and tapped the underside of his audio receptors. “I have five press publishers on speed dial within the phone number database built into me. The media would have an absolute blast writing articles of you, and by extension, your company’s inconsiderate views and ableism towards handicapped minors.” His face turned menacing. “And I would then personally take great pleasure in watching your company crumble into shambles and dust, as well as your eternal, futile struggle to find yourself a newer minimum-wage career due to the noxious label that will forever be associated with your name so long as you breathe and live on this cruel, unforgiving planet!” He said, eyes widened and leaning forward towards the tour guide as said human was shrinking in on himself and cowering at this point, eyes shut. 

Crash stared at Metal wide-eyed in awe and eventually Metal looked back at him, his own eyes widening. Was that too much…?, he thought to himself. Crash gestured towards the boat, and Metal took the hint. “A-anyways, have we made ourselves clear?” He grabbed the guide’s hand who flinched at the robot’s coldness, and placed the money in said hand. 

“Y-yes, s-sir. Y-you two can board the b-boat now.” The shaking tour guide squeaked, stepping out of way. 

“Absolutely splendid. Come along now, young Master.” Metal chirped, guiding Crash onto the boat and the two took the empty seats in the back of the boat. Some people looked at them curiously, but that ended the moment they made eye contact with Metal Man. The red robot looked at Crash and winked.

Crash brought his hand-less arms to his face and pushed the scarf down as the boat started. “Metal, oh my GOD.” He whispered to him. “Did you see the look on that human? You scared the scrap out of him! He looked like he was gonna cry!” 

“Oh, I did? Oh well, heheh.” Metal whispered back, chortling. 

“Where in the world did you learn all of that?! Holy heck!” Crash said in awe. “Was it the books? Did you learn that from books, too?” 

“Well, my books did teach me a few things about human customs,” Metal explained quietly, “but they didn’t teach me that fake as hell voice, though.” 

“Yeah… what was that anyways?” 

“That? Haha, I was just doing my best Air Man impression.” 

Crash stared at his partner with narrowed eyes, until they suddenly widened huge and his face contorted into minor horror at the realization. Oh my god... that IS what Air Man sounds like! Crash thought. 

~~~~~

 

The ocean breeze brushed against Crash’s hair and face, and the robot shivered. He was used to wearing his helmet. Though it didn’t deter him from taking in the sight of the Cube Island before the two of them. The ocean around them was a deep, deep blue, and tidal waves splashed up against the cube-like rock formations that formed this entire island. It almost gave the illusion that the whole island was sparkling, and reminded Crash of the particular Robot Master they’ve set out to rescue. Fitting, they both thought. 

The island’s rock formations, the tidal waves, the deep blue ocean and clear skies… It was no wonder to Crash why Flash enjoyed photography so much. His station was absolutely gorgeous above ground, and everywhere he looked, it was nice enough to fit into a picture frame. 

Metal returned to Crash and winked at him again. “Just scared the tour guide into letting us explore the whole island on our own.” He spoke quietly to him. “I can’t believe it, but we actually made it. Now let’s get our brother and save him from becoming a profitable tourist attraction.” 

“Okay!” Crash began to follow Metal as they explored the exterior of the island. The tourists seemed to be exploring the interior of a sea cave that reached far into the island. Seemed though that they weren’t going to do that. 

Of course though if Dr. Wily was going to build a secret base, it wouldn’t be easily accessible, Metal thought. It’d have to be somewhere inaccessible to most, probably. Or well-hidden. The robots made their way around the island hastily, finding no signs of an entrance point whatsoever. Even after overturning dozens of rocks and boulders and scanning the cliffs and ground multiple times, there was nothing. 

Metal sighed. The entrance had to be somewhere around here. “Of course… Crash, you got any idea of where the entrance would be?” 

Crash stayed close to Metal, and wished he could wrap the scarf around his head, but his stumps where his drills would’ve gone proved doing exactly that to be quite challenging. “Well… there’s always the inside of that cave.” He mused. “...and the top of the island, too. We haven’t gone there yet ‘cuz the cliffs are too steep.” 

Metal smiled behind his mask. “And that's one reason why I’ve got you around, Crash.” He ruffled his hair again and the Wilybot smiled widely at his touch. Metal placed a hand on Crash’s back. “Here, I can jump to the top easily.” He offered his arms. “Hop on, I promise I won’t break my legs this time, heheh.” 

Crash looked at Metal’s arm and pouted a bit. He would’ve preferred another piggyback ride, but considering how he was currently even more hand-less than normal, being carried bridal style was probably for the best. “You better not,” He said, “‘cuz if you do, I’d have to throw you when we gotta jump somewhere.” He hopped up and Metal caught his legs and back. 

“Please don’t throw me,” Metal chuckled. “I might throw Metal Blades, but I’m not one myself.” 

“You sure about that?” Crash joked, smiling. 

“I really mean it, Crash! You’ve gotta…” Metal had a scrap-eating grin behind his mask. “... _cut_ it out and believe me.” He began to jump to the almost flat top of the island easily from cube to cube. 

And instantly, Crash’s smile went away. He groaned in irritation. “BUZZ off, will you? Your puns suck.” 

“Oh, they do? Hahaha, I guess you _saw_ them coming then, didn’t you?” Metal laughed, reaching the top. God, it was so easy for Crash to set himself up for punning. 

“PUT ME DOWN AND GIVE ME BACK MY NON-HANDS.” Crash barked and his eye twitched. Metal was laughing, but let go of Crash and let the Wilybot stand. The red Wilybot then undid the knots on the coat and took off Crash’s disguise. He reached to the backpack for Crash’s parts and his shoulder blades, gave Crash his helmet to put back on, and took out his drills. 

“I’ve gotta _hand_ it to you, Crash. Your own puns are starting to get really good. I haven’t _drilled_ them too hard into your CPU, have I?” Metal continued, inserting the drills back into his wrist sockets. He jumped back as they immediately began to rapidly spin and whir loudly. 

“METAL, ONE MORE PUN AND YOU’RE GETTING DRILLED.” Crash lightly growled, pointing a spinning drill at the punning offender. 

Metal gave Crash a look. He couldn’t tell what he meant by that. 

“Okay, okayyyy, I’ll stop. No need to get crazy on me today.” He chuckled and lifting his hands up in surrender. “Anyways, if there’s an entrance here, we should pick it up in our scans.” After a few minutes, Metal thanked everything since they easily found the entrance, which was buried underneath one of the few boulders on the island. “Well, that was much easier than what we’ve done for the past two days. Now if the entrance is under there, then this boulder should be easily movable… But could we even lift a boulder this size? Hmmm…” The robot put a hand to his chin and pondered it when suddenly, he saw three Crash Bombers dig into the boulder’s hard exterior. He immediately jumped back as the boulder was blown to smithereens in a magnificent explosion. 

The two robots looked at each other, and they could faintly hear screams of panic from the other end of the island from the humans. They laughed. Scaring humans was so much fun. 

“Oh, Metal. What would you do without me?” Crash cooed, grinning. 

“Truthfully? Not a whole lot.” Probably cry, maybe, he thought. 

The two looked at the exposed entrance. There was a steel door with the unmistakable ‘Dr. W’ etched onto it. It had what looked like a complex lock security system built into it. Neither of them had the patience to try to figure out the number sequence. Their eyes met, and more Crash Bombers filled the area around it. Another explosion sent the door flying into the ocean. Below where the door once was, was a simple vertical tunnel, and a ladder. 

“After you~” Metal chirped. 

~~~~~

 

Crash blinked and stared in awe. And he thought the island itself was pretty. “Wow…” He breathed, pupils dilating. 

The slide down the ladder was incredibly long, but so worth it now. He had no idea how underground he was now, but he knew there was no way the tourists were going to find this place. Before the Robot Master was Flash Man’s stage, a gorgeous crystal cavern tinted all different hues and shades of blue. Crystalline stalagmites jutted out of the floor, and the cavern expanded widely before them. It was dimly lit by old hanging lanterns on the cavern ceiling, and the way the light bounced against the cubic formation-lined walls, stalagmites, and oddly-smooth, iridescent floor, the whole place seemed to twinkle and gleam. 

“Wow,” Metal breathed, placing a hand on Crash’s shoulder. “And I thought my factory was mesmerizing. Flash is lucky.” 

“Factories can be mesmerizing?” Crash asked, still taking in the sight before him. 

Metal closed his eyes. “Well, at least I think mine was. Every piston pumping, gear spinning, conveyer belt moving, spike crusher dropping… all of that in sync with one another? I used to watch it for hours. I even made up this little tune to hum to beat of the machinery.” He opened his eyes and found Crash watching him curiously. He chuckled and began to quietly hum the tune. 

Metal’s deep voice pleasantly broke the silent stillness in the air and was picked up by Crash’s audio receptors. Crash didn’t know a thing about music but nonetheless, he liked the tune, and couldn’t help but lightly bop his head to the beat. But sadly, the tune ended almost as fast as it began. “That was actually really catchy!” Crash chirped. “Not to mention, your voice is really really deep and pretty when you sing… hum…! You should do that more often!” 

Metal’s eyes averted away and what little you could see of his cheeks dusted themselves pink. He crossed his arms. “M-my voice isn’t that good, Crash…” 

“You’re totally wrong! Because your voice,” Crash retorted, smiling, “...is as mesmerizing as this cave!” Metal only blushed deeper and tried to look away harder, and Crash giggled. “Is someone getting embarrassed?” He cooed. 

“I completely am and I-I hate it.” Metal stuttered, feeling flustered for no particular reason and he just wished that feeling would go away. His eyes darted to Crash’s goofy grin and then towards the seemingly endless abyss that was this cave. “C-can we get going already?” 

He took a step forward onto the shiny semi-transparent floor and his foot slid forward. “OH SHI--” His leg kept going until he did a vertical split. He sighed. “Of course.” Crash stared at him and giggled. 

Metal pulled himself together and got up carefully. “The floor’s really icy, Crash. You don’t want to be careless and _slip and slide_ up like me, okay?” He chuckled and carefully began to make his way down the cavern’s hallway. It honestly looked like he was skating down the floor, though. 

“Okay! I’ll follow you!” Crash chirped cheerfully, before his eyes snapped open. “WAIT A SECOND.” The puns then clicked. “GET BACK HERE, METAL--” He yelled, shuffling his feet against the ground and skating after him, drills spinning again. 

Metal laughed as the two skated their way through the caverns. He giggled as Crash surprisingly was catching up to him quickly. He skated faster. “You’ll have to do better than that!” He taunted, looking forward when he saw a gap approaching them. He leaped over it and landed gracefully, except that he didn’t stop moving. He ended up trying to spin to halt his forward velocity, and fell over. “SHIT--” He faceplanted the crystalline floors. 

He shakily got back on his feet and dusted himself off, only to get tackled by a flying orange Robot Master. “I’VE GOT YOU!” Crash yelled, wrapping his arms around Metal. They both laughed, but soon realized that they were in motion again, sliding across the floor again. “Oh god! How do we stop going forward?!” Crash said, wobbling around and trying to keep his balance. Metal held him. 

“Well, there’s a rocky wall up ahead of us! We can always crash into that!” Metal offered. 

“IS THAT ANOTHER PUN?!” 

“No, I mean we’re going to smash into that wall up ahead if we don’t stop!” Metal tried to move his feet against the momentum, but only ended up losing his balance. Crash caught his back and held him close. 

“Uhhhh! UHHHH?!” Crash pointed a drill and fired a Crash Bomber at the wall. 

“CRASH. Why did you fire a BOMB at the wall? THE WALL WE’RE GONNA HIT IN A FEW SECONDS?” 

“I DON’T KNOW!” Crash yelped. He swiveled them so Crash faced the wall. Seconds later, the wall they’re sliding towards exploded violently, and they slid through the debris and dust. Metal grabbed Crash and leaped over another gap… only for the two of them to crash into a crystalline wall instead. They fell over backwards. 

“...Ow.” They both groaned. 

Well, that just happened. How in the hell did Flash maneuver his way around this station? 

Metal was certain now that if Flash knew how to ice skate, it wouldn’t be surprising in the least. He slowly got up and helped Crash up. “You okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine. You?” 

“Yeah, I’m good. I guess the only place to go now,” Metal looked around, “is up now.” He hopped to the top of the wall’s edge with ease. Crash followed suit, the two continued until they stopped at an edge. With nowhere to go but down. The two looked down. They must be getting closer if all that remains is a drop… “Alright, Crash, be careful. You know that sometimes spikes could be at the botto--” Aaaand Crash jumped down before he finished. Of course. He hopped down and landed next to Crash. “Crash, c’mon, I didn’t even finish my sentence before… There coulda been spikes-- what are you looking at?” 

His eyes followed Crash’s and he saw a robot before them. Well, a robot in a large bipedal mech. They both recognized the mecha easily. Sniper Joe models usually pilot these. Speaking of which, the Sniper Joe in question seemed to have been inactive for a long time, but stirred at their presence and sounds. His singular glowing red eye looked around and gazed at the two Robot Masters. 

He cleared his throat and spoke. “More Robot Masters. Metal Man and Crash Man, specifically.” 

“Hey, he knows us!” Crash chirped. “Hi! Do you think you could let us throu--” 

The turrets connected at the mecha pointed at the Robot Masters. “You should leave this place.” The Joe commanded. 

Metal looked disgusted. “You dare point your guns at a Robot Master? You should know your place, minion.” He summoned his Metal Blades in both hands. 

“If you’re looking for Flash Man, there is no point. He is already dead and Dr. Wily never recovered us. My coworkers and I no longer belong to anybody. Leave at once, or else I will have to destroy you.” 

“Oh yeah, you’ll have to make us leave!” Crash barked, getting into a battle stance. 

“Worry not, my late Master has taught me well. I will eliminate you so quickly, this battle will be over…” The Joe began. Metal’s eyes widened. No. No no no no he is not going to-- “...in a _Flash._ ” 

Metal immediately looked at Crash Man and spoke up. “God, man, you literally said the worst possible thing just now. You don’t know what you’ve d--” 

“AaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Crash screamed and let out a mighty battle cry, leaping forward and penetrating the mecha with multiple Crash Bombers. The battle was as over as soon as it began. Crash ran past the mech, drills violently whirring and hopped down the next drop, as moments later, the mecha exploded gloriously. The Sniper Joe landed on his behind and collected himself. The first thing he saw was Metal Man. 

“Well… I guess you were somewhat right about what you said.” Metal said nonchalantly. He then threw a Metal Blade into the center of the Joe’s face, causing the lesser robot to crackle with electricity and break. “It’s definitely over in a flash.” He methodically shuffled past the broken heap of scrap and looked down where Crash jumped. He saw Crash Man-shaped holes in the platforms and levels of crystalline layers down below. Oh god, did he drop all the way to the bottom? ….are there SPIKES down there? Metal’s anxiety began violently churn within him, until he heard faint rage-induced psychotic screams of his partner echo up to where he was. “Oh thank god.” 

A loud CCCRRRRAAAAASSSSHHHH sounded immediately afterwards, causing the entire cavern to tremble and shake for a moment, before more crashing sounds, drilling sounds, and tantrum screams continued to fill the salty and silent cave air. He felt bad for any other active robot who got in his way while Crash was triggered. They’re all going to suffer violent and ghoulish deaths. Unlike his partner, Metal carefully and slowly made his way down the layers and levels of crystal platforms, until he reached what seemed to be the very bottom. 

He looked down from the platform he stood upon and saw Crash surrounded by four more of the same mechas and Sniper Joes, shooting at him. But Crash Man does not care about being pelted with pea shooters. He only craved destruction and carnage. Metal glanced up at the very narrow and thin platforms ahead of him and spotted an extra E-Tank laying around. Finders keepers~ 

He checked Crash after getting the E-Tank and he almost did a double-take, as it literally was only half a minute and he’s already annihilated everything in sight around him, and frankly, went blind as he refused to stop shooter his Crash Bombers at everything. “Hey Crash,” Metal called from above. Crash didn’t hear him. “CRASH!” His words went through one audio receptor and out the other. He chucked the E-Tank at Crash’s head, causing the robot to look up at him. “You can stop now, I think you’ve killed everybody.” 

“THAT’S IT?” Crash growled angrily, grinding his shark teeth. “There’s gotta be more! They must be hiding from me! RAAAAH!” He fired more Crash Bombers at the cavern walls. If that were true, the red robot didn’t blame them. Metal hopped down. Welp, time for distractions. He walked up to the orange Robot Master despite his threatening drills spinning at him. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay now, Crash. Nobody’s gonna make any more puns for the day.” Metal said gently, placing his hands on Crash. “Do you hear me in there? I said there’s no more puns! And all the bad guys are gone, too!” 

The snarling Robot Master blinked a few times before eventually cooling himself down and closing his eyes. “... ...y-yeah, I think I heard you. ...I’m calm. I’m calm now.” He said shakily and then opened his eyes and looked around. “I’m calm and… what happened here? Did Megaman do this or me? I… I just remember everything turning red and then I started hearing your voice and now I’m here...” 

“Well, Flash’s subordinates decided to attack us, and, well, you snapped and blew up everyone in sight.” Metal explained, his voice gentle. “Personally, I think you did a great job, Crash.” He picked up the thrown E-Tank. “Here, for you.” He jammed it into one of his drill tips before holding the E-Tank’s new hole to his mouth. 

Crash drank the whole thing slowly. All of his systems told him they were good to go again. “Thanks, Metal.” He sighed, content. He then saw the unmistakable doors that always lead to the Robot Masters’ battle arenas and teleporter rooms. They both knew what to do. A few Crash Bombers later, both doors were blown into tiny bits. 

Flash’s battle arena was rather small and cramped, but still beautiful nonetheless. It was still blue and sparkly-- actually, it might’ve been more brilliant the the rest of the cave. Metal immediately took notice of some of the cubic formations in the wall having been pushed into the wall, similar to that of a secret door. That must be the teleporter room. “Crash, you check out the other room, I’ll check to see if there’s anything in here.” 

Crash saluted and carefully made his way over into the secret passage. Metal took a deep breath to himself. 

They’ve made it to Flash’s resting place. They finally can rescue another one of their ‘brothers.’ Yet, he felt his wires twist up with heavy, ugly, claustrophobic feelings. He didn’t fully understand why. 

Perhaps it may be because he’s about to witness how Megaman defeated him. Or maybe it’s because he’s standing in a place he feels like he shouldn’t be in. The room was uncomfortably silent, and the still air reeked of sea salt and metal. The robot of the same name could almost feel some kind of emotion lingering in the air. He didn’t know if it was dread or desperation or something else. His core went cold. He shook his head. 

Right. He was going to check the room for anything suspicious or leftover from five years ago. He remembered his own battle arena in the factory having a chute he could climb into that lead to a personal room just for him. He didn’t know if anyone else had something like that, though. He started an optic scan of the room around him and didn’t find anything in the initial search, other than an overturned crystalline tile that belonged in the floor. 

Metal walked to the tile and squatted, picking it up and scrutinizing it. The front side seemed fine. He flipped it to the back. So did the back. ...wait, no. Something was very, very faintly (and crudely) etched into it. His optics zoomed and re-focused to make out what it said. 

_Q,_

_Press the wall tiles._

_-F_

Metal’s eyes widened and gently placed the tile back down in the spot it was meant to be in. He stood up, and lightly grazed his hand along the crystalline walls, pushing lightly. Close by the steel doors Crash exploded into nonexistence, his fingers dipped suddenly. Metal pushed the rest of his weight into the tiles, revealing many more tiles to suddenly push in. The imprint forming was definitely Robot Master-sized, although a little thin. Eventually, he pushed hard enough that the tiles slid far, far back and pushed themselves to the side and out of his way. A dark, narrow hallway was revealed to him. He hesitated, before entering. 

The room at the end of the hallway was cramped and colored a deep, royal blue. Used up candles littered the place. There was a small bed, a chair and a writing desk nearly covered in all kinds of papers and knick knacks, a garbage can, an organized but outdated calendar, an old poster of Megaman with the word “sucks” written in black marker underneath the hero’s name, and that was it. Everything was collecting dust. 

He didn’t belong here. 

He slowly took a step towards the desk, and sat down in the old, forgotten chair. The first thing he noticed was a run down boombox on the desk, with CDs scattered around it. They seemed to all be works of musicians from the 1980’s and earlier. Metal paused, before grabbing what CD cases he could and stuffing them in the backpack he still carried. The next thing he saw was a booklet of some kind on the desk. He opened it up and discovered lengthy and personal passages within its pages. He immediately shut it and left it alone. 

He then found something hugging the wall on the desk. He reached for it and examined it. His hands shook. It was a framed photo. Of Flash and all of their brothers together in a group shot. Dr. Wily must’ve taken this photo. Quick Man was grinning and making bunny ears over Flash’s head. Flash didn’t care. He looked happy. Metal saw himself looking away, disinterested. Crash Man was making a goofy face at the camera. Air Man couldn’t care less and seemed rather irritated for some reason, and Wood Man seemed at peace, as if absolutely nothing was wrong with the world right then and there. Heat Man was hugging both Bubble Man and Flash Man, while the former seemed to shrink in on himself shyly. 

His hands wouldn’t stop shaking. God. He missed them all. Breathe, Metal, breathe, he commanded himself. His core ached and he carefully put the framed photo into his backpack. He felt like garbage because he couldn’t remember in the slightest when this picture was ever taken. 

He found a pair of keys next to where the picture frame was. Why would there be a pair of keys, he asked himself mentally. He grabbed them and scooted away from the desk. The desk itself had drawers underneath it, but only one had a keyhole. And there was only one key on the keychain. He opened the other drawers first. Most of them were empty, save for one drawer that had a box in it. Metal took the box out and looked at it. It was unopened and it contained a brand new camera inside. There was a sticky note attached to it that was peeling away. 

_I learned today that some humans celebrate Christmas in July. So if we all die before next month, Merry Early Christmas in (not) July, Flash. But I’m completely sure that we’ll be fine, so it’s no biggie. We can do it!! :)_

_Love, Quick  
P.S.: Oh shit I forgot to wrap this, but now I can’t find any wrapping paper anywhere!! :( _

Metal shuddered and put the unopened box inside the backpack. 

His fingers then went towards the drawer the the keyhole next and fumbled with the key until he heard a distinct ‘click’ fill the silence in the air. Metal took another deep breath and put one metal hand over his eyes as he hesitantly and slowly opened the drawer. After mustering up the courage, he peeked down and exhaled a breath of relief. Nothing horrifying was inside the drawer, just papers. 

He reached for the first paper, and held it in front of him. The paper itself, along with the rest, were withered and soft from years of old age. There was a crudely drawn image on it, but the lines were fading. It was a doodle of Flash. There were words above it. 

_Sorry if my drawing skills are total shit. But look, I drew you!! I drew it in my spare time at my station. God, testing lasers is boring as hell. I hope you like it, though. -Quick_

Metal took out the next paper. It was a doodle of Quick. There was more writing under it this time. 

_Now I drew myself! Do you think I’m getting better? Maybe one day I’ll be better at drawing than you, hahahaha. :) -Quick_

Metal faintly saw writing through the paper and flipped the page over. 

_Nah, who am I kidding. You’re fucking amazing at art_

Metal grabbed the whole stack of papers and flipped through them carefully. He couldn’t help but notice each of the papers had a little date written in the corner of each page, either in Quick or Flash’s handwriting. The dates became more recent as he flipped through each paper. He found a drawing of Flash with wickedly long and voluminous hair. 

_Hey Baldy~ I drew you with hair today. I like to think that if the old man did design you with hair, you’d have hair like those old pop stars you listen to all the time. Big and fluffy. The thought is nice, right? Maybe Dr. Wily will give you hair one day. Fingers crossed!! Quick_

Metal found a drawing of a bird amongst the pile of Flash Man doodles. 

_Holy shit a fuckin bird flew in here!! Do you like birds? I know Crash is nuts about them. I drew it for you anyways. Today was definitely more interesting than the rest. You should totally tell Wood about it, too. Have an awesome day. Love, Quick_

There was a drawing of Flash that… had a lipstick kiss mark on it? 

_Long distance kissing? Hell yeah. But also HELL NO. WHY THE HELL IS LIPSTICK WATERPROOF IT TOOK ME TWO HOURS TO WIPE THIS SHIT OFF MY FACE Love, Quick_

A drawing of Flash and Quick together, holding hands and smiling. 

_Yesterday was the best day of my life, Flash. I’m so happy to be with you. I love you._

Metal turned the paper to its back. 

_I love you so much._

Metal finally reached the last page. June 9th. Five years ago. It was a better drawing of Flash and Quick together, holding hands and smiling. 

_Hey Flash,_

_Do you think after all of this is over, we can go on a date together? Like… a -date- date where we can pretend to eat food and watch the stars or dance in the rain or do some really sappy thing like that? Just the two of us? I think that would be really nice. Would you like that too?_

_Dr. Wily is yelling at me to hurry up. That’s weird, right? Hahahaha :) Man, he really wants us to kick this Megaman guy’s ass already, huh? I wish you the very best of luck today. I know you can do it, I believe in you._

_It’s time._

_I love you._

_Love, Quick_

Below the letter, there was something written in black marker. 

_**Yes, I would. And I love you too.**_

… 

Metal’s breath hitched and his core felt tight and frozen in place. He re-read the very last drawing’s message and he felt hot tears of optic cleaner fall out of his eyes onto the page. He was trying his very best to hold it back and to not cry all over the drawing, but… 

Fuck. 

It’s no use. Metal screwed his eyes shut and let himself sob quietly as he carefully folded the last paper and put it into a different pocket of the backpack. He put the rest of the papers back into the drawer, and then threw himself onto the desk, no longer trying to retain his choked sobs or the flow of hot tears streaming down his face and underneath his mask. His audio receptors’ extensions flattened like that of a distressed animal. 

It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fucking fair. 

Soon enough, another voice from another room called his name. The voice resounded again, much closer this time. “Metal…?” Crash called out softer, until his own audio receptors picked up on a sound that made his core drop into his metallic gut. “Metal?” He called out, worried. He eventually found the secret room and his partner in a sobbing mess. Crash tapped his shoulders and Metal wasted no time whirling around and throwing his arms around Crash and sobbing on him instead. The orange Wilybot wrapped his arms as best as he could around him. “Metal, shhhh, Metal… Metal, what’s wrong? W-why are you crying? What’s wrong, Metal?” He asked, his voice becoming so soft and tender. He murmured his name into the top of Metal’s helmet. 

“I--” Hiccup. “I hate Megaman, I wish he’d just die or something, FUCK THAT GUY!” He yelled out amongst his heartache and ugly sobs. 

Crash wanted to rub his back, but he had drills for hands. So instead, he leaned down to Metal’s level, and kissed his forehead, or rather, the Metal Blade that was in the way of his forehead. And then he kissed his face mask. “Metal, I know… I know, Metal… I know…” Said robot’s face mask then retracted slowly and tears dripped down his chin. Crash kissed Metal’s nose. And then his scar. “I know…” He hugged him as tightly as he could, pulling Metal’s armored chest against his own. The poor robot clung back to him so tightly, too. Crash only had a few pieces of the puzzle put together, but he could guess that something in this room must be really sad. The two robots rested in the room for more than a few minutes. 

Metal cried himself out in Crash’s (for once) gentle arms and just held him back for a few silent minutes. “There,” Crash whispered softly, “Do you feel better?” 

“Sort of…” Metal murmured, sniffling. He leaned forward and softly grazed his ripped lips against Crash’s lips. Crash leaned forward ever so slightly and kissed him tenderly. It didn’t stop Metal’s trembling, though. They parted slowly and Metal rested his arms on Crash’s shoulders. “Thank you,” he said softly, before speaking up a little louder. “After this, we have to reactivate Quick Man.” There was no doubt in his CPU or core, no question after what he stumbled upon. They were going to do this. 

“Alrighty.” Crash nodded and slowly stood back up with Metal in tow. “I found Flash in the other room, by the way.” The Wilybot paused, looking unusually hesitant and quiet. “You’re not gonna like it, though. It’s ugly.” 

Metal shuddered and took a deep breath. “Show me. We’ve gotta get him back to Dr. Light’s lab, anyways.” 

Crash and Metal exited the hidden room and entered the other secret passage in the battle arena, the one that led to the teleporter room. It was almost bizarre seeing a room so plain and boring compared to the rest of the gorgeous crystalline cavern. Metal followed behind Crash and looked around. Yep, this was definitely a teleporter room. They all looked the same, after all. His eyes then laid on something blue and yellow, slumped against the wall in the far corner of the room. There he was. He walked closer to Crash, who was hovering over the body, but he stopped midway at what he saw. 

His core felt icy and suffocatingly tight. 

There laid Flash Man, broken and slumped and leaning against the wall. But something shiny stuck out of his body. Many shiny somethings that Metal Man was very familiar with. Metal Blades were buried inside Flash… everywhere on his body. One particular blade found a home wedged directly in between Flash’s pupil-less eyes, causing his shiny golden head to crack. His body was collecting dust. 

Something was welling up inside Metal again, this time hot and burning and invasive. If robots could throw up, he’d have done so already. Hot tears were welling at the corners of his eyes again as he made his way over to Crash and the lifeless Flash and kneeled down. He reached forward and pinched the Metal Blade dug into Flash’s face, and jiggled it carefully before removing it slowly. He knew best that you had to be very careful with Metal Blade removal, since the edges were jagged and hooked, you could tear a lot of things by accident. “Crash,” Metal breathed, trying his best to sound calm, “I need you to go into our backpack and pull out the cell phone we took from Dr. Light.” He put said backpack down and continued to carefully remove each Metal Blade out of Flash’s body. 

Crash dug into the backpack immediately, but paused. “Metal? ...what is this stuff?” He sifted through the box and knick knacks carefully with his drills. 

“Flash’s stuff. I thought some of it was worth keeping to give to him after we reactivate him.” Metal removed the last Metal Blade in Flash, and placed it in the goddamn Metal Blade pile that was forming beside him. That was at least one comforting thing about being a robot. Humans can’t be “reactivated” after they “break”, but robots could. He turned and faced Crash, who was shakily holding a small gray cell phone between his drills. He grabbed and immediately realized it wasn’t a flip phone. 

How the hell was suppose to use this then? He fumbled with it until a keyboard slid out from the side. Ohhhhh. He flipped through the contact list and found so many scientists and Robot Masters that he didn’t know. He felt old. But anyways, where is that son of a bitch. He found out that Roll had her own number, which surprised him. Above it, ‘Rock.’ He remembered Roll calling Megaman that before. He hit ‘Message’ and slid the keyboard out. 

“Watcha doin’, Metal?” Crash asked curiously. 

“I’m gonna vent my feelings out.” Metal said nonchalantly. “Can you pick up Flash for me? You said that there was a secret tunnel that led out to the mainland, before right?” His fingers fumbled against the keyboard, typing clumsily. If this were a flip phone, he’d have a much easier time. 

“Yeah, that’s what Flash told me. Maybe we have to press the wall tiles again to expose it.” Crash said, lifting Flash’s limp body into his arms. The two made their way back to the battle arena and the two were both unusually silent as Metal pushed his free hand against the wall tiles, the other hand texting. Soon enough, he found a third secret door in the room. A staircase leading deeper and the two discovered a seemingly endless tunnel, with short little jeep cars lined against the wall. 

Crash broke the silence. “Metal? Are you okay?” 

“Absolutely not,” Metal replied casually, “Anyways, how does this text look?” He showed Crash what he had typed up on the phone. 

[MEGMAN I HATE YOU YOU FUKIN SUCK AND I HOPE YOU GET DEACTIVTED ]

“OH. Well, it’s simple and to the point, so I think it’s good.” Crash said. He walked over to one of the jeeps and laid Flash in the back seat. 

“Thanks. And send.” Metal said, hitting the ‘Send’ button. He walked over to the jeep with Flash’s body in it and hopped into the drivers’ seat. Crash hopped in the shotgun seat. 

“Metal, you know how to drive?” 

“Nope, I haven’t got a clue. But I might as well start learning today.” Metal looked down at the steering wheel. The key for the ignition was missing… Metal smashed a Metal Blade into the ignition instead and the jeep came to life somehow, mechanically purring. Time to figure out what everything did! 

First, the car almost blew up when Metal pressed his foot on the gas and the car didn’t move. Then he discovered the gear selector. He shifted it to ‘R’ and accidentally rammed the jeep into all the others. Then he discovered the Neutral mode and the brake pedal right afterwards. And finally the Drive Mode. OKAY, it goes forward. That’s all we need, Metal thought. He wasn’t going to mess around with the 1, 2, and 3 Modes he saw on the gearbox. He spun the steering wheel as far left as he could and turn the jeep around and began driving down the long, damp tunnel. They had a long way to go. Good thing the tunnel was basically a straight line though. 

Suddenly, the cell phone buzzed harshly in Metal’s hand. He immediately opened the phone and saw that the Blue Bomber replied to him. 

[Uhhh. Who is this] 

The red Wilybot immediately began text back with one hand. The car soon began to veer to the right. “Uhhh… Metal?” Crash said quietly, eyes widening. “Metal, the car…” 

“Hold on, I’m telling Megaman to piss off.” 

“Metal-- Metal, the car! METAL.” Crash said louder, pushing Metal with his drills. Metal barely looked up in time and swerved the car harshly to the left to avoid colliding with the wall. 

“S-sorry! Sorry…“ Metal apologized, hastily finishing up his text and sending it. 

[ITS METALMAN YOU FUCKIN STUFFD FLASHMAN WITH METAL BLADES AN YOU KNO WHAT PISS OFF YOUR A ASS] 

He focused on the very straight road ahead and picked up the jeep’s speed. Crash leaned back in his seat and enjoyed the breeze on his face. Metal quickly looked behind him to check if Flash was still there in the backseat, and thankfully, he was. They continued down the tunnel for a short while quietly. Metal began to quietly hum his little tune from earlier. Crash bopped his head to it lazily. 

“Hey Metal,” Crash spoke up, “Could I try texting him?” 

“Sure,” Metal said, typing another quick text to Megaman. 

[HOLD ON CRASH WANTS TO SAY SOMETHNG] 

The reply was almost immediate. 

[Sorry. And Ok] 

“Knock yourself out,” Metal said, holding up the phone keyboard to Crash while focusing on the road. Crash positioned his drills and very carefully poked at the keys. He stuck his tongue out a little as he tried to touch his drills with the most precision he’s ever had in his life. The keys were so small! 

“Okay… I think I’m done! What do you think, Metal?” Crash said, satisfied with himself and smiling. Metal looked at the phone and choked a bit, before laughing and snickering. 

“It’s perfect.” He hit the ‘Send’ button. 

[Asldkfjrejjxewlxfisdiq suusewrwufklw] 

Metal and Crash laughed together as they drove down the tunnel. 

~~~~~

 

They eventually made it to the end of the tunnel, which lead to a ladder. Metal and Crash traded with each other and Crash carefully and creatively climbed up the ladder with the backpack while Metal held Flash in one arm right behind him. When they reached the top, they found themselves in… an underground subway. The few and scarce humans who were waiting for their trains gave them looks, which… Metal didn’t have it in him right then to scare their gazes away. 

Upon exiting the subway, the cell phone began to ring with a very basic, default ringtone. Metal stared at the phone wide-eyed, before picking it up. “H-hello?” 

It was a voice he’s never heard before. “Greetings. Is this a Doctor Wily Number I am speaking to?” 

Metal’s eyes narrowed. “....who is this?” 

“This is DLN-00A. I am a Lightbot called Time Man. Now will you answer my question quickly? My schedule is rather tight.” 

“Oh. Uh… Hi. Yes, this is Metal Man. Why are you calling me?” 

“Dr. Light is currently hospitalized and has gotten word of your escapades in the UK. You and your friend never appeared on the TV itself, but a news story has surfaced today regarding the island you were on being subjected to explosions. Where are you right now?” 

Metal looked around. “...I have absolutely no idea.” 

“Just splendid. Anyways, the local police are looking for the two of you. Dr. Light has personally requested me to ensure the safe return of the both of you. Should you two desire to return to our country once again and to your… wherever you live, you are to follow my directions exactly as I give them. Understood?” 

Metal looked at the phone and huffed. “You better hurry with it. This phone’s battery is dying.” 

“Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To quote another great writer on this website, this chapter went from 0 to 100 real fast. 
> 
> Ow. This chapter made me feel last night as I was writing it. I was listening to this as I wrote the scene in Flash's room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5Ouu0i_uzs 
> 
> But get hype, we're finally getting more members in our robot jrpg party haha! XD  
> Stay tuned, folks and thank you all very much for the support you've been giving me so far. It really means a lot to me. Please send comments my way, I love reading them. And I hope you enjoyed the chapter! More to come soon. :D


	5. One Of Those Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THEY FINALLY GO TO CUDDLETOWN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Guess who's back~ 
> 
> Anyways, I'm super sorry about the very long wait!! So far, this entire month has been extremely hectic and active and UGH, but it's also had its very good moments too. My convention experience. ...somehow. Unfortunately, I had lost my real camera and navigating touch screens with a bodysuit and gloves on is very difficult and basically impossible. Of course. Please enjoy this chapter, by the way!!

“...don’t worry, Doctor Light. You were tested negative, right?” 

“Y-yes… but only for now. There is still the very possible possibility that it could spread my other organs and not just my lungs.” The thought of being this sick scared Dr. Light. But at least they caught it early… It could’ve always been worse, he told himself, they could’ve found out when it was too late. He wouldn’t allow that. His children need him… a lot of other robots need him, too. And not only that, but if he dies before X is built, he cannot help robots and humans achieve peace with each other. His dreams may have been crushed during the Third War, but that didn’t mean he lost the ability to dream up new dreams. 

A world where robots and humans could live as equals… where they wouldn’t have to be manipulated as tools of war by both Dr. Wily and himself, or any human… The world could be one step closer to achieving the peace he’s worked so hard for. The pointless wars could finally cease. The dream quelled the elderly doctor from his anxieties if only for a few seconds. 

“...Doctor Light?” Rock leaned in, looking at his creator and father, who seemed to be staring off into the distance… either that or the cab driver, who was starting to feel uncomfortable at the sickly doctor’s staring. 

“Ah, sorry, Rock. My mind was wandering elsewhere…” Light admitted, composing himself and flashing a smile at Rock. 

“You must be tired,” Roll chimed in from the other side of Dr. Light. The three of them sat in the cab’s backseat with Rock and Roll on either side of Dr. Light. “Don’t worry, Doctor Light. When we get home, you can rest as much as you need to. After all those checkups and treatments, I think somebody’s going to get their favorite stew tonight…” Roll winked. 

Dr. Light chuckled and coughed lightly into his hand. No blood this time, thankfully. “T-thank you, Roll, but I cannot rest just yet. I still have robotics projects and checkups that I’ve stalled on due to this sickness. They can’t wait forever, my child.” 

“Yes, they can!” Rock and Roll both interjected. Roll continued, “You’re not a robot like us, humans need to sleep and rest a lot when they’re sick! If you keep working while you’re sick, you’ll only get weaker...” 

“Please, Doctor Light. If anything happened to you, I-I don’t think any of us would know what to do… we just want you to get better,” Rock added. “And also, I’m still your lab assistant, you know. I-if there’s any project or anything else I can do, I’ll be more than glad to take over for you or help you as much as I can! But please rest when you can. I was scared when I saw you bleeding like that...” 

Light’s expression softened. “...alright, alright, I will rest when I get home. Thank you both dearly. I-I too wouldn’t know what I’d do without either of you. And are you sure, Rock? I don’t think you’ve ever tackled a project on your own before… Do you think you’re prepared?” 

The cab soon halted to a stop in front of their house. Roll and Rock hopped out of the car as Dr. Light paid the driver, and the two robotic children helped the doctor out of the car. Light reached for his keys to the front door. 

“Of course I am. I’ve gained and learned so much throughout the years. I feel confident that I am prepared for anything thrown my way, at least when it comes to your projects.” Rock reassured him. Even if he wasn’t prepared, he’d still do anything for his creator. Dr. Light only deserves that after all he’s been through... 

“A-alright, if you say so. Then I believe you, Rock.” Light said, smiling. The door unlocked and opened. The first thing the three of them laid eyes on was two Wily Robot Masters on the living room couch, kissing eagerly with one of them sitting in the other’s lap. One robot’s curious red hands were caressing the other’s jaw and hips, and they both were giggling. 

“I WASN’T PREPARED FOR THIS!” Rock yelped, covering his eyes and blushing pink. Dr. Light and Roll stared and blinked. 

Roll snapped into action. “HEY! No naughty robot-loving in my house!” She walked over and lightly began smacking Metal’s back with her broom. 

“God, when did you guys get here? Okay, okay-- enough with the broom!” Metal barked, mask reappearing and he quickly climbed off of Crash. The broom accidentally hit Crash’s face but it didn’t phase the orange Wilybot. Said robot’s face was dusted red and dazed, smiling blissfully. 

“Hey Roll. Hi Doc. Megaman.” Crash said, collecting himself and leaning against Metal, who wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “How was the hospital trip? Is the Doc all fixed up now?” He asked. 

“Unfortunately not. I still have a long ways to go before I am healed. I need to take more medicine daily and wear a mask now if I am to work on any further projects so I am not to inhale anything hazardous. One similar to that of your partner’s, actually.” Doctor Light explained, gesturing at Metal. “How have the two of you been? Did everything work out? Time Man only gave me a very brief and vague explanation over the phone...” 

“But before that, how did you two even get in here? All of the doors were locked!” Rock asked, peeking his eyes open at the two Robot Masters. 

“Hah. That was easy enough,” Metal began, “That tiny (and very crabby) robot Time Man let us in and then we wasted his time long enough for him to ditch us here. And then we never left. In fact, you should take a look around, we made the place even better. That’s our thank you for helping us fly out of the country.” 

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Roll said, looking around. To her surprise, the house was spotless. Not quite to her own standards on a good day, but it was definitely commendable with how everything was neatly organized and dusted and wiped down. The house even faintly smelled of air freshener. She smiled at the two of them. “Wow, it’s actually pretty clean! Are you sure you’re not secretly cleaning robots?” She asked, leaning forward. 

Metal chuckled and shook his head. “Not at all. But would you believe me if I told you that despite being built to destroy Megaman over there, I spent quite a lot of my time cleaning our Wily Castle? I was in charge of all the cleaning duties back then.” 

“WHAT, that was you?! That… would actually explain a lot. Like the castle being inexplicably stainless whenever I woke up…” Crash pondered, bringing a drill tip to his mouth. 

“Crash, I thought I told you this yesterday. I was built two months before the rest of you were. Dr. Wily taught me how to clean so he could build everyone else faster. Also, you always slept until the afternoon.” 

“Oh. ...oh yeah, you did tell me!” Crash chirped, and then his brows furrowed. “Wait, you had to clean EVERYTHING? Ewwww. No wonder you always ran off somewhere for the rest of the day…” 

“See, now you understand,” Metal huffed, closing his eyes and nodding. 

“Haha, that actually reminds me of the old days,” Dr. Light reminisced, smiling to himself. “When Dr. Wily and I used to work as partners together and I was designing Rock and Roll here, I suggested to him that he should design his own helper robots. He declined, of course. He told me that was not necessary.” 

“You two used to be _partners?!”_ Crash gasped, shocked. 

“Yes, we used to be such close partners. We did everything together. We lived together, we built B-- robots together, we shared almost everything with each other… I have so many memories,” Light said sadly, albeit to Crash’s pure horror. The Wilybot’s face contorted as terrifying mental images surfaced in his head. 

“Not those kinds of partners, Crash. And he’s certainly right about helper ‘bots not being necessary, he had eight Robot Masters to do his chores for him,” Metal mused. “Pah! Imagine an ‘upgraded’, Wilybot version of Roll, haha!” 

“Oh my, what would that even look like? Would evil me have like… dark hair and a spikey dress or something like that?” Roll wondered aloud, thinking about it. 

“Oh! Maybe she could fly around on the broom like an evil cleaning witch! And throw around bottles of bleach except that it’s not bleach, but it’s actually acid! And have a vacuum weapon like Dust Man!” Rock suggested. 

“Oh, there would definitely be something to do with the broom,” Metal agreed, nodding. “Her special weapon would be called something like ‘Death Broom’ or I don’t know. Also, who’s Dust Man?” 

“You’ll probably never meet him, no offense,” Rock said. 

“Hey Metal, we should totally ask Flash to draw Evil Roll for us! You said he was good at drawing, right?” Crash piped in. 

“Yeah, he is. RIGHT. I’ve gotta show the Doctor something!” Metal said, getting to his feet and bolting upstairs. 

Crash sat up and grinned at the three of them. “Oh yeah, to answer your question before, everything went splendidly! We might’ve blown up an island that still had tourists on it, but who cares about that, we found the robot we were looking for! You’ll never guess who!” 

“It’s Flash Man, isn’t it?” Rock said. 

Crash’s expression died and he pouted grumpily. “Party-scrapper.” 

“What? I’m not a party-scrapper!” 

“You just HAD to guess the right answer the first time!” 

“You told me the answer just before!” 

“DETAILS, MEGAMAN.” 

Dr. Light couldn’t help himself but chuckle at the conversation unfolding. To see Wily’s robots getting along with Rock and Roll… Not even a few months ago, he never would’ve imagined this being real. Heavy footsteps sounded above him and he watched Metal return back down the stairs with the limp body of Flash Man slung over his shoulder. He couldn’t see the fallen robot’s face. 

“Ta-da! Here’s Flash! Doctor, you know what to do from here,” Metal chirped and winked. Rock and Roll stared at the body, and then at Dr. Light. And then they looked at each other. 

“I-I’m sorry, Metal Man,” Roll began, “b-but the Doctor is really sick right now. He’s actually supposed to be resting right now and not working on robotics projects for the time being. I’m really sorry.” She looked guilty and felt worse on the inside. They went so far out of their way to get one of their brothers and now he can’t even be reactivated because Doctor Light has to rest first. But… doctor’s orders take priority unfortunately. Doctor Light’s life means everything to her. 

“Aw, really?” Metal said, defeated. His expression turned melancholic. “To think now… we can’t even reunite with one of our fallen brothers… after Crash and I worked so hard just for this to happen…” 

“Noooooooo,” Crash groaned, before donning his best puppy eyes, “Pretty pleeeeaaaaase? It won’t take too long, would it~? Please wake up our brother that Megaman messed up?” He blinked his emerald green eyes at Doctor Light and Megaman, whom the latter’s face contorted. 

“Stop it, with that face. That’s not cute.” Rock said, narrowing his eyes.

“YES IT IS,” Crash growled, his expression turning demonic for a split second before resuming his puppy eyes and pouty lips aimed at Doctor Light. “Pleeeeeaaaaaase?” 

“...And we even cleaned your house while we were gone… Crash even wanted to care for your robot dog, wherever you took that thing…” Metal clutched his chest where his core would be, and he leaned his head against Flash. “I’m so sorry, Flash… you’ll have to be dead and mangled just for a little longer, I guess… I wish you didn’t have to be dead, though… What’s that, Flash? You’re suffering because you’re not reactivated? You’re crying in Robot Heaven? You just want another chance…? ‘This is all Megaman’s fault?’” 

Rock’s expression soured. Dr. Light looked between the two Robot Masters giving him such sad and cute expressions. “Doctor Light, don’t listen to them. Your resting and health are more important.” The Blue Bomber told him, placing a hand on his back. 

“Come on, guys… I know it’s hard to ask, but could you two wait with your brother until Dr. Light at least has gotten a nap in?” Roll said softly. She was met with Crash turning the puppy eyes on her and the orange Wilybot had such a hurt expression. Roll’s wires were twisting up on the inside at how unfairly cute he looked. 

“Pleeeeeeeaaaaseeee?” Crash whispered. 

“Enough, everyone.” Doctor Light finally spoke up. His brows were furrowed and he put a hand to his chin and contemplated for a moment. Everyone quieted down for him. “...I’m sorry to say this, my children, but the sooner that their ‘brother’ is revived, the sooner I can rest and the sooner that they can be satisfied. Rock,” He faced his son, “would you be willing to assist me with repairing and reactivating this Robot Master? It would take some of the work off of my shoulders if I did not do this alone.” 

“O-of course, Doctor Light!” He exclaimed, nodding his head. 

“The sooner this is done, the quicker everyone can be happy. I’ll do my best, Doctor Light,” Rock resigned to himself, smiling at the sickly doctor. He turned to Metal Man and held his hands out. But instead of handing Flash over to him, Metal took a step backwards. 

“You know, I very suddenly feel uncomfortable with leaving Flash by himself with Megaman around,” He said, eyes narrowing at the Blue Bomber. “Especially after I witnessed what happened last time he was alone with him.” He pointed at the Metal Blade on his head. 

“Come on, I was originally built and designed to be Dr. Light’s lab assistant! I know what I’m doing! And I never wanted to fight any of you! If there’s anyone you should be angry at, it’s Dr. Wily for making us fight! And designing you to be evil world domination robots!” 

“Dr. Wily wasn’t the one to stick FOURTEEN Metal Blades in Flash’s body! I pulled fourteen out of him, Megaman. Think about it. If it took ONE Metal Blade to take me out, does it really take FOURTEEN to take out Flash? I don’t think you know what you’re doing,” Metal spat at Megaman, venom lacing his tone. 

“But--” Rock began. 

“OVERKILL!” Metal grinded his robotic teeth behind his mask. 

“Guys… c-come on,” Crash began, “I know Megaman’s a huge jerk, b-but do we really have to fight right now…?” His green eyes met Metal’s burning red eyes, and he shuddered. 

Rock sighed exasperatedly. “Look… it’s in the past, alright? It can’t be undone, and I’m sorry that things just had to be that way five years ago. I mean, if there’s something I can do maybe to make you less angry--” 

“You could always deactivate yourself.” 

“Besides that.” 

Metal huffed, and looked at Crash again. He closed his eyes and paused. “...If we have no other choice and you HAVE to be involved,” he opened his eyes and carefully put Flash into Rock’s arms, “don’t you dare do anything to ruin him or mess him up. If you even think about touching his I.C. chip, you’re going to be eating Metal Blades as your next meal.” This sucks. Regardless of whether they wait for Dr. Light to rest or not, Megaman’s still going to be THERE. He didn’t want Megaman putting his unworthy hands all over Flash, but they didn’t have many other options, did they? Because it’s what Dr. Light would want, isn’t it? 

“I promise I won’t ruin him, or any other robot you two bring to our doorstep, okay? I won’t touch his I.C. chip, either. If I break that promise, I can go deactivate myself, okay? Is that better?” Rock said. 

“....It’s a start.” Metal muttered bitterly. He looked up at Dr. Light, and then at Roll. Well, that’s that. He laid down on the couch, faceplanting into the couch cushions and resigning. Crash sat next to him and tried his best to pat his back with his drill. 

“Thanks guys,” Crash said, waving his other drill as the Lightbots and their owner took Flash into the elevator and headed down into the lab. When it was just the two of them again, he laid down next to Metal. “Are you okay?” 

Metal let out a muffled groan into the couch. “I’m burned out. Is it bad if you hate someone so much it actually tires you out?” 

Crash paused, before leaning his head against Metal’s. “Not really. When I get angry at other robots, it always leaves me feeling really exhausted.” He wrapped one drill around Metal as said red Wilybot gently grabbed the other one. It was almost like a very abstract version of hand-holding. 

“Well… you also go berserk a lot, too. I can only imagine how tired you get, after all that destruction and carnage…” Metal sighed. “I know we should be grateful to the Doctor and his robots for even helping us revive our brothers, but whenever I think about Megaman, I just… start seeing red, you know? And I start thinking of all the different ways I can put Metal Blades inside him.” 

Crash nodded slowly. “I know… I’ve thought about blowing up Megaman every time I see him.” Metal shifted and faced Crash, getting closer to him. With the couch space being narrow and thin and the both of them still wearing their helmets, snuggling was a bit awkward but they managed. They laid in a comfortable silence for a while, embracing one another and sharing their circulated warmth. 

To Metal, just being close to Crash was already helping him relax. God… if he was still alone, he probably would’ve tried to attack Megaman by now and get decapitated again. He breathed through his mask to cool himself down. Just… focus on Crash, he told himself. He looked up and down the Wilybot who was staring at him back. He couldn’t believe that Crash was this adorable up close… well, actually, he couldn’t believe a lot of things about Crash. Like how he actually listens to him, and how loyal and tenacious and kind he really is underneath all that psychotic rage he holds within himself, how the two of them never really talked to each other five years ago and how that baffles Metal because just-- JUST LOOK AT HIM, look at his pretty green eyes, and his-- 

“Metaaaaal, you’re stretching my faaaace again,” Crash whined, his cheek being lightly pinched by Metal’s fingers. Metal blinked and refocused his optics and then removed his hands. 

“Oh, s-sorry…” He murmured, smiling behind his mask. 

“Were you thinking about me being cute again?” Crash cooed, smiling sweetly at him. 

“How’d you know?” Metal joked. 

“Well, you always wanna grab some part of me whenever you think about it,” Crash said, gazing into Metal’s ruby eyes. “It’s nice you think I’m so cute… ‘cuz I like seeing you happy and not wanting to rip a new hole in everyone with your ‘blades. Not that that isn’t fun, either, buuut…” His lips pursed. “When you’re happy, you’re also cuddly… and I also get to tell you how pretty and nice you are, too.” 

“Stop that, you’re making me blush,” Metal chuckled, actually blushing behind his mask. 

“Oh, really? I couldn’t tell~” Crash cooed playfully. 

“Of course, you couldn’t~” Metal hummed, before his mask retracted and his smile widening. 

“Heeheehee,” Crash cackled, “Just as planned~” He shifted slightly so he could move one of his drills up to very gently poke Metal’s cheek with the tip. The red Wilybot shut his eyes and let Crash poke him. 

“Whatcha doing?” He asked, feeling his drill trying to stretch his own cheek. 

The orange Wilybot smirked. “I can’t help but want to do the same to you, too.” He leaned closer to Metal’s audio receptor, “Because you’re really super cute when you blush, you know that?” He murmured to him. He watched contently as Metal’s eyes opened wide and his whole face began to blush. Crash giggled. 

“W-w-well, you’re still a thousand times cuter,” Metal stammered, pouting. Crash couldn’t stop his giggling and pulled Metal closer to him. Metal’s expression turned sentimental. “...You think we’ll be able to go to Cuddletown today?” He murmured to him. 

“Oh yeah, definitely. We could even go right now if you wanted… I’ve got a ticket with your name on it, Metal,” Crash purred happily. His core fluttered as Metal’s red eyes lit up like Christmas in July, but his eyes couldn’t help but dart over to a long yellow noodle thing touching Metal’s helmet-- wait, that’s just hair. 

Metal felt the blonde hair touch his face and his eyelids drooped. “Of course… Is that you, Roll? Are you going to cogblock us again?” 

Roll was leaning over the edge of the couch and looking down at them. Her eyes sparkled. “I-I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself but check on you two and-- a-and, you two are just really cute together!” She gushed. “When did you two become a thing?” 

Crash pushed himself up despite Metal trying to lazily pull him back down. “Oh, it was like… a few weeks ago. Right, Metal?” Don’t worry, my Metal Babe, we’ll go to Cuddletown soon enough, Crash thought. He would grab Metal’s hand, but that was kind of hard to do with drills for hands. 

“Mhmmm,” Metal mumbled. “But we’ve got nothing on Flash and Quick, they’ve been together for a long while… Well, until we all had to fight Megaman, that is. But that’s over five years now!” 

Roll blinked. She wasn’t really sure if all five of those years counted since they’ve been inactive during that time, but… whatever. “Wow, that’s a long time. Does this mean you’re gonna reactivate Quick Man next?” 

“That’s the plan. It would be cruel to Flash to reactivate anyone else before him.” 

“Well, that’s very nice of you two,” Roll said, smiling and leaning back up. “Hey… do you two wanna help me cook dinner tonight? Both Doctor Light and the two of you went on long journeys in the past few days, so I was thinking of cooking up a favorite dish of Doctor Light’s. You two are probably gonna stay for dinner anyways, so this would be your very first meal, right?” She pondered aloud, and then turned her attention to the Robot Masters. Crash’s eyes seemed to have dilated at the mention of staying for dinner. Oh boy. 

“Metal? Oh my gosh, Metal, can we stay for dinner?! Pretty please? Please please please ple--” 

“HEY, hey, why are you asking me? I thought that us staying later than usual was a given! You know, since we’re not leaving until Flash is fixed up and reactivated?” He said, getting off of the couch. 

Crash almost exploded with excitement right there and then. He let out this high pitched ‘eeeeeee’ as he sprung to his feet. “I’M SO EXCITED! WE GET TO EAT REAL FOOD!” He chirped. 

Metal couldn’t help himself but laugh at how happy-go-lucky his partner was. The good vibes that Crash gave off when he’s excited were always contagious. “I call food prepping!” Usually, him and Heat never interacted much unless Heat was cooking food, and back then, Metal was always more than happy to use his Metal Blades for something besides tearing up his own face and other robots. He felt a surge of his own excitement spark through him at the thought of getting to show off his Metal Blade skills in the kitchen. 

“OH, what can I do?!” Crash asked excitedly. 

Roll put a hand to her chin. “Hmmmmm… maybe you can stir the food when we get the stew going,” She offered, and thankfully, that was enough for Crash, who nodded eagerly. She put her hands on her hips with confidence. Now that she had two (questionably) capable helpers, they are gonna blow away Dr. Light with this meal! “Alright boys, let’s get started, shall we? To the kitchen!”

~~~~~

To nobody’s surprise, cooking dinner was fun and everybody got along with each other splendidly for the next few hours.

But to Crash’s surprise, he actually found himself quite useful in the kitchen, at least being Roll and Metal’s assistant. Metal took care of prepping all the vegetables with an assortment of both Metal Blades and knives, cutting them with impressive speed and precision. Roll was in charge of preparing the meats and non-vegetable ingredients and generally putting everything together. And then Roll decided that while they took care of that, Crash should pick out what spices and extra ingredients to use. 

It was exciting to open one of the kitchen cabinets to a whole new world of things he had no idea about, like sage and oregano and paprika and sea salt. He had no idea there was a difference between land salt and sea salt! Or that humans used SO MANY PLANTS in their food! He didn’t entirely understand why these ones had to be put in little capsules comparing to the ones that Metal was chopping into tiny pieces, but whatever. He had picked out random ones that had interesting names to him, and knocked over a suspicious box filled with cubes. Fitting considering one of the things they’re celebrating. He dived to the floor and held the box of cubes in his mouth. 

“How about these ones?” He asked, although muffled from holding the box with his shark teeth. Roll took the box out of his mouth and nodded approvingly. 

“Ohhh… these are very good. These are bouillon cubes, Crash. They’re packed with flavor. Good pick!” She said supportively. Crash beamed in pride. “Alright, so after combining Crash’s picks and our vegetables and beef, I think we’re ready for a taste test.” Roll grabbed a bread slice and dipped it in the simmering broth, and then took a bite. Her face contorted. “Oh-- oh... Carrots, we definitely need more carrots. And onions. And salt.” 

“I’m on it.” Metal chirped, grabbing some peeled carrots and cutting them blindingly fast into little pieces. Crash couldn’t help but watch in awe as he went for the onions next. 

“That’s cool. You’re really cool,” the orange Wilybot breathed. 

“Hehe, it’s nothing, but thanks.” Metal grabbed the salt and held it over the delicious-smelling concoction. “How much salt?” He asked as he began to lightly tap the salt shaker, producing a little ‘tinktink!’ sound. 

Roll watched carefully before suddenly saying, “Stop. That’s good.” She beamed at the two Robot Masters. “I’m really proud of you both. You did such a great job tonight helping out! Honestly, you two are WAY better cooking partners than Rock and Doctor Light are. They can’t cook even if their lives depended on it…” 

Metal and Crash looked at each other wide-eyed. They... were better than Megaman at something...? “Roll, teach us more please!” They both said in unison suddenly. But before Roll could react, Rock’s voice sounded from the other room. 

“Roll? Where’s Metal Man and Crash Man? They should come downstairs, we’re ready to reactivate Flash Man. Also, can you ge--” 

Before Rock could even finish his sentence, Metal and Crash had bolted into the elevator and already hit the Down button, crushing Rock between the two of them. All three of them tumbled into the lab and the two Wilybots darted to Dr. Light. 

“Doctor, before anything happens, I just want you to know that I apologize about my behavior before and that we’re very grateful that--” Metal began. 

“THANKS DOC!” Crash cut him off. “Where’s Flash?!” He wildly looked around before spotting said robot on one of the operating tables, with many wires connected to his body. He got closer and beheld him. “Oh my god. Metal, come here, look at Flash! He’s all sparkly and shiny and new now! Aaaaaahhh, that’s so cool! Metal, look!” 

Metal hurried to Crash’s side and looked up and down Flash. Indeed, he did seem to have all of his battle damage completely wiped clean off of him, as if he was never mutilated by fourteen Metal Blades in the first place. Even his transparent golden scalp seemed to have been either completely fixed or replaced, as there wasn’t a single crack in it now. However, Metal did notice the vertical scar in between Flash’s eyes. Looks like they couldn’t completely fix that. He could understand why, though, as synthetic skin, if you don’t have a lot of it, is tricky to work with. His scar was enough proof of that. “Woah. You guys really did fix him up. Impressive.” 

“Most of his wounds only involved repairing wires and replacing his armor pieces, which is easy,” Rock said, walking over to look at Flash as well, “The hardest part was fixing up his head and his buster, since I… uh… accidentally cut into his Time Stopper’s control systems five years ago. And also modifying some of his internal systems, too.” He looked up at Metal. “Hey, look, I’m really sorry about what I did… I kinda really feel bad about it now a-and I really hope that maybe one day--” 

“Shut it, I understand. But Flash waking up with no issues is more important to me right now.” Metal said. “You didn’t touch his I.C. chip while fixing his head, right?” 

“N-no, of course not. I’m keeping my promise I made.” 

Metal nodded approvingly while Crash couldn’t help himself but fawn over how fixed up and sparkly Flash looked. It reminded him of the first time Flash was ever activated. Well… he had to stay far away during the activation but he remembered him, Quick, and Bubble watching curiously through one of the windows. 

“Crash Man? Metal Man? Rock, could you three please step away from him? It’s dangerous for other Robot Masters to be near one duration activation, in case any of them give off an electric, or in Flash Man’s case, a temporal discharge during activation.” Dr. Light explained, before coughing lightly. He was wearing a mask over his mouth now. The robots stepped far away from Flash Man and hovered very closely around Dr. Light. “....this is probably a good distance for you all. I’m going to start now.” 

Doctor Light’s calloused hands pattered away against the smaller computer keyboard and the small monitor that accompanied it turned black. Rock and Metal recognized it as a command prompt. Crash knew it’s the screen that has the coding on it, usually. Dr. Light typed in many strings of override and accessing commands onto the screen. The program paused, registering Light’s commands before its own string of messages began to appear on the screen. Metal read through them carefully. 

[Booting. Operating System booted.] 

[Version 2.014.16 installed.] 

[Core Systems loading. . . Core is now active.] 

[Performing Effector tests. . . ] 

Wait. 

Why does this feel familiar to him? 

Crash leaned over next to Metal and whispered to him, “Metal, is that coding?” 

“No,” he whispered back, “It’s messages talking about booting Flash up. The computer is running tests to make sure everything is fine with him.” 

“Ohhhhhh…. ” 

Dr. Light continued to watch the command prompt run its messages and tests on Flash and entered his own input every now and then. Flash’s body did spark for a few seconds, and to the relief of the doctor, every robot was unaffected by the electric discharge. Eventually, the messages slowed to a stop, and the sickly Doctor looked up. Everyone else took that as a cue to follow suit and watch Flash as well. Flash’s body was unmoving and still as it was before for only a moment. Metal and Crash’s cores were jittery and full of anticipation, waiting. And then it happened… Flash opened his eyes. 

Flash was active and alive. That fact sunk into Metal slowly while Crash gasped with starry eyes. Dr. Light slowly stood up from his chair and made his way carefully to Flash Man. Crash immediately tried to jump out after Dr. Light, but Metal held him back down. “Not yet,” he whispered to his partner. They watched from behind the computers… 

Flash Man himself blinked multiple times, recalibrating his optics. The world was coming into view and… he had absolutely no idea where he was, which was mildly alarming. Because that could mean a lot of unpleasant things for a Wilybot like him. Where am I? he thought to himself. Rather… whose laboratory am I in? 

He looked down at himself and at his body. Recollections of memories flooded his CPU. This… this isn’t quite right. Wasn’t my body covered in Metal Blades…? The memory was painful to him, and he stored it away. Stay calm, don’t panic. If my body is in mint condition, then that means somebody repaired me, he thought to himself. And he only knew two people who were capable of repairing Robot Masters like himself. Dr. Wily and Dr. Light. And if he was inside a lab he doesn’t recognize… a laboratory that doesn’t have world domination plans and blueprints on the giant monitor over there, then…. t-then… 

Oh god. 

 

He was in Dr. Light’s laboratory. 

Fear and apprehension began to flood his core because he had absolutely NO idea what that meant for him. Was he to be recycled? Turned into a Lightbot? Oh… oh god, this isn’t good. Could he still use his Time Stopper? He thought to himself. He looked down at his body and his right hand retracted into his buster and replaced itself with the end of said buster. Okay… his Time Stopper should still be functional. Perhaps, at the right moment, he could escape this place… His breathing quickened and he then realized how many wires were attached to him. His breathing became unsteady, and beads of liquid began to perspire from his face. He closed his eyes again and tried his hardest not to have a panic attack-- 

“Hello?” A deep and gentle voice interrupted his frantic train of thought. Flash peeked one eye open at who he recognized as the one and only Dr. Light. Said doctor coughed a bit. “Ah, hello there. Do you know who I am?” 

Flash opened both eyes widely and stared at Dr. Light in disbelief, before blinking and opening his mouth. “Do--” His voice suddenly died, and he paused, frowning. He tried again. “D-- Do--” His eyes widened and he sat up slowly, a yellow hand against his throat. He gulped and suddenly realized the problem. Moments later, his systems were blaring the problem inside his CPU loudly. He wheezed and coughed and pointed to his throat. “Do--” He tried to speak but failed, and he shook his head. 

Doctor Light stared at him like he had three heads. “Is… something wrong?” 

Flash growled, or rather, tried to, and pointed at his neck with more emphasis, more vigor. The doctor tilted his head in confusion. “Something’s wrong with your neck?” Flash shook his head ‘no’, and pointed harder. “.....Your throat?” He nodded. 

Doctor Light put a hand to his chin and stroked his beard. “Hmmm… that’s very strange. You’re supposed to be in perfect condition. Allow me to double check the tests, please.” He made his way over to the computers, and Rock shuffled out of the way for Doctor Light to sit down… right into Flash’s line of sight. 

“YOU--” Flash started to say, but immediately began coughing and wheezing. Rock looked over at him. 

“M-me?” He said, pointing to himself. He was met with a fiery glare and aggressive beckoning. Rock didn’t know any better and made his way over to Flash, only to get slapped in the face. “OW! What was that for?!” 

Flash deadpanned at him before angrily pointing at his buster. And then his chest. And then his other arm. And then between his eyes. And then his legs. He didn’t speak a word and yet Rock understood him completely. “Ass--” He wheezed breathily and clutched his throat. His voice sounded horribly raspy and dry, nothing like his usual voice. 

“Look, I’m really sorry, okay?! I didn’t mean to throw so many at you!” Flash rolled his eyes. “I already feel bad enough as is, since your brothers already ripped into me earlier today about it.” Flash’s eyes widened in surprise. His brothers…? His core circulated faster. His brothers were here?! Oh thank GOD. He sighed in relief and then flipped off Rock. It took every byte of Metal’s willpower not to burst out laughing at the scene unfolding before him and Crash. Dr. Light returned to Flash and Rock. 

“Your neck and throat are in perfect functioning condition, I’ve triple-checked. What could your issue be then?” The doctor told Flash, contemplative. The blue Robot Master exhaled slowly and tried to communicate his problem to them with hand gestures. He made a drinking gesture with his hands. 

“Oil…?” Rock suggested. Flash shook his head ‘no.’ 

“Coolant?” Dr. Light guessed. Flash shook his head no harder and made the drinking gesture again. 

“.....Alcohol?” Rock guessed again. 

Flashed huffed exasperatedly and drew out the letter ‘W’ in the air. “Wa-- W-- Wa--!” He tried his best, but it seemed his throat wasn’t able to vocalize whole words today. 

“A ‘W’….” Dr. Light mused, “‘W’… what could ‘W’ stand for…” Suddenly, it hit him harder than Wily’s false accusations from the last war. “Dr. Wily!” He exclaimed. 

“Dr. Wily?! Did he disable your vocal systems?” Rock asked Flash, who just stared at him. 

“He was making a drinking gesture before… Do you think he might have done this while intoxicated?” He gasped to himself. “I knew I should’ve intervened all those years ago! Is he now abusing his robots whilst he’s drunk?” Flash put his face in his hands and weakly moaned in despair. This was hopeless. 

Very fortunately for the vocally-stunted Robot Master, a metallic hand tapped his shoulder and Flash looked up to meet eyes with Metal Man, holding a half-full water bottle. “You meant ‘water,’ right?” He said, winking. Flash’s eyes widened huge, before holding up a finger to him and grabbing the water bottle and downing it faster than he’s ever had. He took a moment to let the water spread through his systems and hydrate himself, before clearing his throat. 

His voice was deep and baritone. “Thank you…“ He spoke quietly before facing Rock and Dr. Light. “You two are the absolute worst Charades players I’ve ever met.” He faced Metal again. “Thank you again…” He exhaled slowly and then held his arms out to the red robot. “Come here, I’ve missed you.” 

Metal was taken aback in confusion and surprise. “But why? We’ve barely ever talked to each other...” 

Flash’s expression became sentimental. “Doesn’t matter to me. You’re still my family.” Metal hesitantly walked into Flash’s embrace and hugged him back. He could feel something strong well up inside his core. Metal wanted to clutch his core, but closed his eyes instead. 

“W-wow. That… means a lot to me, Flash. I-I’ve missed you, too. I’ve missed everybody.” Metal stuttered, returning his hug more eagerly now. He began to tremble. Oh no, don’t cry, Metal, do not cry right now, he told himself. 

Flash pressed his face into Metal’s abdomen and was trying to hold back his own emotions that are trying to gush forth from his eyes in liquid form. Come on, self, I JUST drank the water! “How many more are here? Is it just us?” 

“It’s just you, me, and one other Robot Master right behind you~” Metal chirped and Flash let go of him, turning around. 

“HI FLASH!!” Crash said very loudly and excitedly in his face, causing said Robot Master to jump in place and lean back slightly. It took Flash a second to recognize who he was staring at, before his eyes turned huge again. 

“CRASH!” He called out as Crash threw himself into Flash’s embrace. The two of them were laughing and Crash was trying his very best to hug Flash, who wrapped his arms around the orange Wilybot. “Crash, I’ve missed you, too! I’m so happy you two are here!” He couldn’t help himself and hot tears formed at the corners of his eyes, only to spill down his cheeks. Screw it, he was gonna cry a little. 

Metal couldn’t help but notice the tears and thought ‘screw it’ to himself as well and let himself tear up, too. And then he threw himself into the Flash Man hug pile, laughing and crying a little. God, it felt so good to be finally reunited. All of their cores welled with happiness. But eventually, all good things must end and they parted from the group hug. “I don’t even know where to begin…” Flash breathed. “How are we active right now? After--” His eyes flitted towards Megaman. “I thought we were good as dead when we had our rematches with him. God… we’re not Lightbots now, are we? Is that why we’re in Light’s lab?” 

Crash shook his head. “Nuh-uh! No way in hell we’d ever become Lightbots. ….no offense, Doc.” 

“None taken.” Light said. 

“This…. i-it’s a long story,” Metal explained. “I’ll explain it later. So, I won the Charades, but I still don’t understand why you need water for your vocal systems to properly work. What’s up with that?” 

Flash crossed his arms. “It’s because Dr. Wily is a cruel designer. I run on both oil and water simultaneously. My Time Stopper uses a very large amount of my energy, so I have an alternate fuel chamber for water-based electrolysis to give me enough energy to use it without powering down each time.” Metal and Crash stared at him blankly. “...it means that I use both water and oil or else I’ll run out of power every time I use the Time Stopper. Think of it like me having two ‘stomachs.’ And Dr. Wily gave me a slightly altered vocal system from everyone else, one that completely scraps out on me if I’m dehydrated. You know… to make it very obvious for me when I’m low on water.” 

“That’s… an odd method of energy management,” Metal said, confused. 

“I mean, with designs like Crash Man and Bubble Man, did you really think Wily was ever logical with his robot design choices?” Flash said, before adding, “No offense, Crash.” 

“None taken. I ask myself everyday why I don’t have hands.” 

“Well, I also can understand why he’d build me like this, too. Stopping time, I imagine, is a very ambitious thing to do, and from what I’ve heard, is also something Doctor Light couldn’t accomplish. But being built this way has its perks. Like getting to use the Time Stopper multiple times, and being stationed in a very beautiful island…” Flash mused, smiling softly. 

“Oh my god, that totally reminds me!” Crash suddenly remembered, speaking up again. “FLASH, when we went to go get you, we got picked up afterwards by this Lightbot called Time Man AND-- AND he was SO… ...what’s the word, Metal? Like, he saw Flash and he got SO upset!” 

“Envious? Bitter? Internally boiling?” Metal offered, snickering. 

“YEAH, ALL OF THAT. It was really funny, especially when we started talking about how you could stop time completely, he looked like he was going to blow a circuit!” Crash giggled. 

Rock sighed. “...yeah, that sounds like Time alright. Actually,” he turned to Flash, “Time Man is technically considered an incomplete robot since his Time Slow is still in a very experimental phase. If we could keep some of the information we gained from repairing you, it’d be a huge help making him more complete and less… bitter. Would you be okay with that, Flash Man?” 

Flash’s mouth tightened into a firm line. “Two things. First: Why would I ever help you, Megaman? Otherwise known as Mr. Use Twelve Me--” 

“Fourteen.” Metal corrected, grinning behind his mask. 

“--Fourteen Metal Blades on Me JUST Because? And second: Even if I let you and the Doctor keep my information, that would just make a whole world of trouble for me. That’s classified AND personal, and not to mention Dr. Wily would have me scrapped if I gave that kind of info away.” 

“Well, actually…” Rock started, darting his eyes to Metal. The red Wilybot sighed. 

“Right. About that… I’m… not even sure if Dr. Wily knows that we’re active right now. The only reason I’ve been reactivated is because Dr. Light needed me for an experiment, and you two are here now because I didn’t want to be the only one active whilst the rest of you were left alone.” He swallowed and carefully thought out the next sentence. This was going to be hard to say. He took a deep breath. “Dr. Wily… never recovered us. As bad as that sounds, it’s unfortunately true. Just… just look at the dates around you.” 

Flash blinked at Metal, processing what he just said, before shaking his head. “You’re… you’re not serious, are you?” 

Doctor Light coughed, and added, “Your ‘brother’ is correct, sadly. Megaman has just recently ended the Ninth Robot War. It’s been a long, long time since you all were last active.” He pushed a button on his keyboard and the wires disconnected themselves from Flash with a familiar hiss. 

“NINTH?!” Flash sputtered, flabbergasted. “W-wait, wait wait wait! So if Megaman just ended the Ninth War… were we at least collected by someone else? Or put in a Robot Museum or something?” 

Metal shook his head ‘no’, and Flash felt his core drop into his metallic gut. His wires began to twist up. “I found Crash’s body in a dump near his old station. And we both just went to your station to go get you.” 

The blue Robot Master stood up and walked to the largest monitor in the room. He almost immediately found the date and his eyes widened. “Oh… oh, that’s a lot of years. That’s five more years than I last remember… We were left around like garbage for five years...” Those facts blared within his head over and over. He was abandoned! Dr. Wily moved on from him and his brothers. He had seven more wars without us, he thought. Grief welled inside him like a spring, and he trembled like a shaking leaf. They were ALL abandoned. God, then that means Metal and Crash were left by themselves, broken for years as well. Then Heat, and Wood, and Air, and Bubble… and Quick…. His throat and core tightened at the thought. He suddenly felt drill-arms wrap around him from behind.

“I know it really sucks, that we got thrown out like trash,” Crash murmured, “but hey! W-we can at least be thrown-out trash together, right?” The temporal robot chuckled at Crash and smiled sadly. 

“You’re right, we’ve at least still got each other.” Flash felt grateful right then that Crash was with him. He’s always been an excitable ball of optimism… He then spun around with Crash still attached to him and faced the human responsible for reawakening him. “Doctor Light… To use us without Dr. Wily knowing, I never would’ve expected something so… secretive like that from you of all people. You’re going to have to tell me all about this experiment of yours.” Never in a million years would he think that he’d be inside Dr. Light’s laboratory, nor EVER a part of any project of his. So this? He’s got to hear this.

The sickly doctor looked between him and Rock, hesitating at first. Should he tell him with Rock around-- No, no, don’t do this again, he told himself. The last time you held back information, the other Wilybots were almost destroyed by Rock. He took a deep breath. “Alright, everybody take a seat. Rock, you too. You deserve an explanation of all of this, too.” He hesitantly reached into one of his coat pockets and pulled out the miniature external hard drive.

~~~~~

“Alright, so. Crash, Flash, what do you guys think of food?” Metal asked casually, stepping over a tree root carefully. Metal was leading the way through the forest for the other two Robot Masters. He could almost feel Crash’s glee radiating from behind him.

“THAT WAS AMAZING I LOVE FOOD CAN WE EAT FOOD EVERYDAY?” Crash gushed loudly. He put his drills to his cheeks, “And we made that food, too! I think for a first dinner, we made something really good~” 

“I agree!” Metal chimed. “And actually… you just reminded me. We should probably go to a store in the city and get water for Flash…” 

“It’s fine, I can manage for now. Can we do that tomorrow?” Flash huffed behind Crash. 

“Too much happening in one day?” Metal asked. 

“Yeah. I’ve just got a lot to process.” Flash admitted. “Also, the food… I don’t doubt that it was good, but eating is... hn, it feels weird. I still can’t believe Doctor Light modified all of us.” 

“I agree to all of that as well.” Metal said. The blue Robot Master exhaled deeply. “...Tired?” 

“Definitely tired. Well… not physically, but… do you ever just hate someone so much that it makes you feel exhausted? That’s what I’m feeling.” 

“YES, I know that feeling way too well. ...Why does Megaman have to be around the Doctor all the time?” 

“It’s like I see him, and I just think about shooting him hundreds of times, you know?” 

“Oh my god, I KNOW that feeling WAY too well!” Metal and Crash said simultaneously. They looked at each other. 

“I still can’t believe what he did to you, though. You have no idea how livid I was, pulling all of those Metal Blades out of you,” Metal said tiredly. 

“I was there, and he was so angry that he didn’t even look angry! And that’s… kind of terrifying, actually.” Crash added. 

Flash winced. “Ouch. That bad? How did he take you guys out? The Castle didn’t really have monitors or nothing, so I had no idea if anybody ever made it. Well, actually… considering that I was only reactivated today, I might have an idea…” 

“He cut my head off with my own weapon,” Metal said casually. 

“Blew me off of a skyscraper.” Crash also said casually. 

“YIKES. And you guys are angry because of what he did to ME? ….Well, he did throw fourteen at-- okay, actually, yeah I think mine was worse.” Flash put a hand to his chin. “By the way, how far away is this place? ...Do we even have a home?” 

“Well… I wouldn’t really call it anything official, or anything like the old Wily Castle, but we’ve got a place we’ve been staying at.” Metal explained. “Crash wants to turn it into a castle, though.” 

“Ohhh… Sounds fun. ...wait. We’re gonna have to do that ourselves, aren’t we?” Flash grimaced. 

“Probably. That’ll suck. But the end result will be so much nicer, right?” 

“Yeah, because… b-because think about it! All those luxuries we used to have, we can have them again! But this time we can do whatever we want, like eat things!” Crash added, grinning at the vision of their very own castle. Flash didn’t look too phased by that idea. “And leave the air conditioning on as long as we want!” 

Flash’s eyes widened. “Oh shit, what are we waiting for then?” He asked, picking up the pace. Metal laughed and the three robots eventually made it to a grassy clearing and a very large building. 

“Well, here it is. _New_ home, sweet, home. I promise it’ll look much better on the inside after we start filling it with things and adding rooms and making it a castle basically,” Metal showed the others. Crash breathed a fresh breath of air and took in the forest-y, warehouse-y scents that he was beginning to become familiar with. Flash stared up at the whole thing. 

“That was a surprisingly short trip… How did you even find this building if it’s almost completely swallowed by the forest?” He murmured. Metal stood next to him. 

“Honestly, I got lost. And stumbled upon this building while trying to get over to the highway way up there.” Metal pointed in the distance, where a very tall highway overpass towered over the forest. The quiet, distant sounds of cars zooming down the highway filled the silence constantly. “I still think it’s better than living in a dump. Some robots I’ve come across before told me that’s where most homeless robots reside.” The red Wilybot shuddered. He couldn’t imagine what kind of life that must be, to live in a scrapyard where you could come across dead robots like Crash once was any day. 

“Yeah, this is definitely an improvement, I can tell you that,” Flash breathed, turning back to the warehouse. “Please tell me there’s something we can lay down on inside.” 

“Oh, definitely.” Metal walked closer to the building and pushed one of the doors open. The inside of the warehouse they called home was mostly barren, old and dirty, and the whole place just looked so much larger on the inside than the outside, too. Of course, Metal would pick a place like this, Flash thought to himself, it’s just as decrepit as his factory. Flash spotted out of the corner of his eye where all the furniture they had stolen was. Tables, chairs, stools, TONS of boxes, a desk… aaaand one old and weathered couch. Which Crash was tumbling over headfirst. 

“METAAAAAL! Metal, Metal! Now that we’re home, YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS!” Crash yelled excitedly, throwing his drills into the air gleefully. 

Metal couldn’t help but laugh because GOD, Crash, stop being so cute and silly like that. “I know, I know… we’ve made it to Cuddletown, finally, hahahaha~” He gently placed the backpack from their adventure down by the side of the couch. “But I need you to get off first so I can pull out the damn bed.” Of all the shitty couches they could’ve stolen, they ended up stealing one of the best shitty couches ever. Because underneath the cushions, was a foldable mattress. In actuality, this couch was really a bed, and Metal regarded this as one of the greatest human inventions to date. He pulled out the mattress, and began to pop off his literal shoulder blades. He’s learned his lesson from last time. The bed itself was queen sized, and covered in rips and tears thanks to a certain saw blade-themed Robot Master going to Cuddletown sometime earlier. “Hey Flash, I don’t know how you feel about other robots, but do you care if we remove our helmets? ….Flash?” 

Metal looked around, until he spotted Flash laying face-down against the far end of the bed. He almost thought that he was already asleep, until he lazily lifted a hand up and gave Metal a thumbs up. He smiled and exhaled deeply, placing his hands on his helmet and slowly removing it. His synthetic hair underneath was black and mostly slicked back. He turned to face Crash, who already was helmetless and eagerly waiting for him. He lightly tossed his helmet behind him and smirked widely, before climbing onto the bed and gently pushing Crash onto his back, and then climbing on top of him. 

The two Wilybots giggled quietly and Metal placed a finger to his own lips, eyes darting over at the unmoving Flash on the other side of the bed. Crash nodded and leaned up to silently kiss Metal, who returned the kiss. Crash purred quietly into the kiss and exhaled softly as they parted. “Metal…” He whispered. 

“God, I missed this already. Finally, after all that travelling and excitement, we can just…” Metal breathed softly. _“...crash.”_

“Oh my god, that was terrible.” Crash aggressively whispered at him, before grinning. “You just can’t control yourself, can you?” 

“Nope, definitely not,” Metal hummed while smiling widely. The two of them looked into each other’s eyes lovingly for a moment, before Metal fell down next to Crash and hugged him as close to himself as possible. “Crash, there’s something I wanna tell you.” He whispered, pressing his forehead against Crash’s. GOD, did it feel good for him to be this close to Crash without having to tilt his head in some direction. His smile softened into something gentle and warm. “I love you~” 

Crash’s face flushed as he wrapped his arms around Metal. He nuzzled his face against Metal’s and he cooed softly. “I love you too~ You’re so… pretty and cute… and cute… and pretty… and nice… and cute...” 

“And pretty?” Metal murmured, bringing a hand up to Crash’s head and petting his white hair slowly. Crash leaned into the touch and nodded happily at Metal, shutting his eyes. Metal leaned forward and kissed his forehead softly. 

“Mhmmmmm….” Crash purred softly. To be in Metal’s embrace, with those wonderful hands of his holding him so close, he never felt more comfortable and safe. He’s missed the feeling since so much has happened since the last time they were able to do this. He gained his Crash Bombers back, they found out where Flash is, and then they actually went and got Flash and reactivated him! They did that (mostly) all by themselves, too. He snuggled closer to him and entwined his legs between Metal’s. “I’m really happy that you’re doing this. Bringing our family closer again, I mean. Thanks.” He breathed quietly to the red Robot Master. 

“I mean… it wasn’t entirely me, though. You liked the idea too, right? Plus, it’s better if we have more robots by our side, right…? I learned pretty fast that I’m really bad at making decisions on my own,” Metal muttered to him, “So we can figure something out if we have more minds working together, right?” 

“Yeah, you’re right. ...That’s not entirely it, though. Right?” 

“I know… without you, or Flash, or anybody, I’d still feel scared out of my mind. Thanks for keeping the bad thoughts down…” He murmured, before yawning. His optics were starting to unfocus. 

“Well, of course… Didn’t I say I’d kiss them away if you ever started feeling bad?” Crash murmured, leaning forward and pecking Metal on his nose for emphasis. He wanted to feel Metal so badly, to pet him, or caress his face, or anything. But once again, his drills for hands proved that near impossible. ...he could work around it most of the time, though. He nuzzled his forehead against Metal’s, whose smile widened at Crash’s touches. “Mmm. You’re tired… you should rest.” 

“Awww… but you’ve been looking forward to this for the past few days… I’d feel bad if I slept now,” Metal said quietly. 

“It’s okay. We’ve got all the time… ever to stay close like this. And I’m also tired, too…” Crash admitted. Metal murred softly and the two remained unmoving and close to one another. They let their systems slow down and prepared to enter a well-deserved sleep mode. They whispered their good nights to one another, before pausing. 

“‘Night, Flash,” they both murmured sleepily. The blue Robot Master in question was unmoving, other than another eventual lazy thumbs up and something muffled into the mattress.

~~~~~

Metal shifted and opened his eyes sluggishly, registering everything around him. He looked out the window, and saw nothing but a dark blue sky. He looked down and found Crash sound asleep on top of him. He blinked a few times, and then looked to his side. He found Flash sitting upright against the couch, awake. “Flash… what time is it…?” He said sleepily.

“3:28am. 36 seconds in,” Flash responded quietly. He seemed to be holding something in his hands. 

“How do you know that exact time…?” He asked without thinking. 

“I always know what time it is,” the blue Robot Master answered softly. He paused for a moment. “How long have you two been a thing together?” 

“Mmm… I’d say a few weeks or so… Sorry I didn’t warn you before...” 

“What- no, there’s no need to apologize for something wonderful like that. I’m happy for you. Has anyone told you yet that you two are really cute together?” 

Metal groaned and looked away, blushing. Flash chuckled. Metal turned back and noticed the paper in Flash’s hands. ...and the backpack on his lap. “Like you’re one to talk, really…” He retorted tiredly. 

“So you found out.” 

“Crash told me. And apparently so did Quick since he told everyone.” 

“Of course, he’d tell everyone… that proud piece of scrap.” Flash muttered, smiling and shaking his head. “I was trying to keep it a secret back then so that the word wouldn’t spread to Dr. Wily. I have no idea what’d he do if he heard about us being together…” 

“Well… I don’t think he’s gonna find out any time soon,” Metal said. 

“You’re right about that, thank god.” Flash stared back at the paper in his hands, at the old drawing from five years ago. His core ached painfully. “I miss him…” He said softly. 

Metal went quiet for a moment. “I know you do.” He tried to take his arm off of Crash and stretch it out to offer his hand to Flash, but Crash shifted slightly on top of him and pulled his arm back with his drill. “God damnit, Crash,” he whispered. He tried again, only for Crash to sleepily smack him in the face with his drill. Flash shuffled closer to Metal instead, chuckling again. “Was he always this clingy and adorable?” 

“Yep. Right from the first time I met him. I hope you’re ready for a lifetime of this.” Flash joked. 

“I was born… er, built ready,” Metal said, smirking. The night air was quiet afterwards save for Crash’s occasional twitching. 

“Are you going to reactivate everyone else?” Flash asked. 

“I don’t know… but it’s likely. I know that getting Quick is a definite though. I don’t want you to be a third wheel forever.” 

“Thank you, Metal. Sincerely and deeply from the core.” Flash said, closing his eyes. “I miss him so much. I hate that I can count the seconds that pass by, because it keeps reminding me of how long I’ve been separated from him.” He clutched the paper to his chest and his fingers trembled. “T-thanks for getting some of my stuff, by the way.” 

“It’s nothing,” Metal said, looking up at him. “Hey… here’s something to make you feel better. After we reactivate him, you two can go on a date?” He offered, smiling up at him. 

Flash went quiet, and looked down at the paper again. He reread the lines that Quick wrote to him seemingly so long ago and his lip quivered. He shuffled next to Metal and closed his eyes again, trembling. Oh god, Metal thought, that was supposed to make you feel better, not worse! Metal held Crash close to him and very slowly shifted them both up into a half-sitting, half-laying position. Flash leaned against him, trying hard to contain his emotions. “Yeah, we definitely can now. I still can’t believe it, though. I never thought I’d get another chance to see him again,” He breathed shakily, “...even if we won against Megaman.” 

“Hm? Why do you say that?” 

“Well... you do realize why we were built, right?” 

Metal stayed quiet and blinked at Flash, confused. “I… I never thought about it too much. We were built to destroy Megaman, right?” 

“That’s supposed to be our purpose in life. It was either we get destroyed trying our best against him, or succeed… and then what? What comes after that, after we fulfilled our purpose? Do you think Dr. Wily’s ever thought about that?” 

“....yes,” Metal answered. “We were also built for world domination, so… wouldn’t we just take over the world after that?” 

“Maybe. That definitely could’ve happened. There’s a lot of things that could’ve happened that scare me, though.” Flash spoke softly, “If one Robot Master takes out Megaman, for instance, what happens to the other seven?” He paused and took a deep breath. “What would happen when any of us stopped being useful to Dr. Wily? You’ve seen how Megaman and his sister are treated by Dr. Light. Dr. Wily’s never seen us like his children. The fact that we were never recovered and Dr. Wily decided to have more wars without us only confirms my fears… that we were expendable from the very beginning, and that we’d probably continue to be expendable even after we beat Megaman. He could’ve always collected us and upgraded our designs and better us if we lost, but that never happened, did it?” 

Metal looked up at the ceiling of the warehouse. In the very center of the ceiling was a large window, and he could see some stars faintly twinkling in the dark blue sky if he focused hard enough. He stared at them. “...No, it didn’t. You’re right.” He huffed, trying to push down the ugly emotions welling inside him. He hated that everything Flash said made sense. He remembered when Crash first started thinking about this, and how it threw him into a tantrum. Multiple tantrums, actually. 

“But still, anything could’ve happened. What I do know, though, is that the kind of world we lived in was no place to have a relationship.” Flash looked up at the sky as well. “That’s probably why Quick’s letters always sounded so upbeat and optimistic. I knew and he knew, and he was always trying so hard to stay hopeful and supportive for me.” He took a shaky breath and felt hot tears form at the brink of his eyes. “H-he’s just… the best partner ever? A-and I miss him… and I-I don’t even know if I d-deserve someone like him…” 

“That’s bullshit,” a third voice quietly spoke and Flash and Metal looked to find Crash awake, staring at the two of them. “Quick told me that you two were like bread and butter, and I have no idea what that means, but it sounds delicious. So I can’t see why you would ever feel like those two things didn’t belong in a dish together.” 

Flash stared at him wide-eyed and speechless. Metal cut in, “Hey sleepyhead~ Did Flash wake you up talking about the depressing truth of our existence?” The red Wilybot pet Crash’s hair lightly and smiled. 

“Maybe,” Crash mumbled, before he smiled and turned to the blue Wilybot. “Hey Flash, if Quick were here right now, you know what he’d say?” 

Flash blinked. “Uh…” He tried to think hard of a very Quick Man-esque thing he’d say to him. “...’It’s gonna be okay now, Flash. We don’t have to worry about that anymore?’” 

Crash shook his head, smiling wider. “That’s a good one, but I thought of something better.” He paused, blinking the tiredness away from his eyes for a moment and boring his emerald green eyes into Flash’s bright green eyes. “...’We’ve finally made it, Flash. We did it.’” 

Flash processed what he said for only a few seconds before the tears brimming at his eyes began to stream down his cheeks. Crash slowly pushed himself off of Metal and crawled onto Flash and hugged him tiredly. Flash couldn’t hold it in any further and he began to sob against Crash. Metal shifted as well and hugged him from behind. “G-god, t-that is a t-thing he’d s-say,” he choked out amongst his tears, wrapping his arms around Crash. “I-I don’t know a-anymore if I’m sad o-or happy…” 

“There, there, let it out.” Metal said quietly behind him. “Not-Quick is right, you know. We’ve already been through the worst, and miraculously, we’re still here now. So I guess in a really weird and messed up way, everything worked out, right?” 

“And- and when we reactivate Quick, you guys can be together and do whatever you want because Wily doesn’t know about us and it doesn’t have to be a secret and we don’t have to worry about him scrapping us and that’s a nice feeling, right?” Crash added, smiling at him. 

Flash nodded amongst the tears flowing freely from him. His hands shakily moved up Crash’s back and rested against his hair. He couldn’t help himself but ball his fists in his hair and feel a bit envious. “I-I know I-I’ve already s-said this, b-but thank you a-and I’m really happy you two are here…” He stuttered and sniffled through his mouth. “A-also… d-do you think a store would be open right now?” 

“Water?” 

“Yeah, s-sorry, we should’ve gone earlier.” 

“Nah, it’s fine. There’s actually stores out there that are open all day and all night,” Metal said, letting go of Flash and getting up and off the bed. “Alright, who’s up for a midnight water run?” 

“Actually, it’s not midnight at all--” Flash interjected.

“You know what I mean.” Metal chuckled, prying Crash off of Flash. “C’mon, Crash, you better not have fallen asleep. Lest you want me to wake you up with some fancy and _Flashy puns._ ” Crash Man never sprung out of a bed faster in his entire life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's Chapter 5, everyone! I really hoped that you guys liked it... I actually had quite a lot of trouble writing this chapter and I can't really put my finger on why I did. But I promise that I'll try harder with the next ones to make them better. Chapter 6 will be fun to write~ ;D Stay tuned and thank you so, so much for being patient <3
> 
> (The chapter title is named after one of my favorite Crush 40 songs because I feel like the song is really relatable to both my life this month and the characters in this chapter...)


	6. Taking Baby Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Those robots are... 
> 
> Living in the cityyyy you know you have to surviiiive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please excuse my lateness, but this is slightly bigger chapter than normal! ...and I had writer's block for a while. ...and I also was sick the other week. ...and I also began producing a LOT more art on my art blogs, and I'm just overall very bad with time management OOPS. But here it is! Chapter 6! I'm so happy that this is out and finished! I've got special plans for Chapter 7, hahahaha~

Birds chirped happily, and cars zoomed down a highway in the distance. That was the white noise that filled the void within everyone’s audio receptors that morning, and it was oddly comforting. Then again, for this robot, a still silence was something he was not used to, and therefore, not comfortable with. Absolute silence reminded him of a few things: Tension, the hazy gray area before activation, and death. So, to wake up to birds singing and car noises, combined with the bright golden sunlight that only shines early morning lighting up the area and warmly kissing his head, he felt oddly at peace for the first time in a very long time. Perhaps, Metal was wise to pick this run-down place of all places to make into their makeshift home base. Unlike the Wily Castle they lived in back then, waking up here didn’t fill him with heavy, suffocating waves of existential dread and anxiety. 

The Robot Master blinked tiredly and yawned, and then reached for a water bottle and sipped it slowly. He hasn’t woken up this early in a long time. The only time he’s ever awoken this early before was… was… 

_**“G‘morning, sweetheart. Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up. … It’s still really early, but you probably know that already… … … …Will a kiss make up for it?”**_

He shook his head and closed his eyes, smiling fondly at the memory and trying to shove away the aching pain within his core. He knew that he wouldn’t have to wait long before him and the others went and retrieved him, but still… It still hurt to be without his laughs, his stupid antics, his touches, or even his letters. He missed him so much. Especially now that Metal and Crash have become a thing, he was happy for them, but it reminded him very obviously that his own partner was missing in action. He never realized until the past two days how much he missed everything about him, not until he was gone, and it made his core sting and feel heavy. ‘C’mon, Flash, you can hold out. We’re almost together again,’ he told himself, and yet, he could almost hear Quick’s voice in his head saying that to him. 

God, he was horribly lovesick. 

Pull yourself together! He thought, collecting himself and getting up and stretching his robotic joints and limbs to make sure nothing locks up. Today was a new day, and after spending the entirety of yesterday resting and catching up, he felt refreshed enough and ready to start doing something! ...Something, definitely. He looked around the mostly barren warehouse. It really was wiped clean of anything other than what Metal and Crash have stolen. What was there to do? 

The blue Wilybot made his way over to the pile of furniture that they stole. He examined the stolen goods and looked inside one of the boxes. Various tools and pencils were thrown away into the box and… oh? Flash dig inside the box and pulled out sheets of paper and measuring tape, and smiled. Perfect. He spent the next two hours drawing floor plans to the warehouse and measuring the warehouse. By the time Metal began to stir and wake up, Flash had already finished and began sketching a portrait of a wicked little girl with dark hair and a spikey dress on a spare sheet. 

“Mmmm… mornin’, Flash,” Metal yawned, walking over to the blue Robot Master in question. He rubbed at his eyes before peering down at the sketch that Flash was drawing. His eyes almost bugged out of his head. “Holy shit, that drawing’s really good. Did Wily design you to be an artist, too?” He was about to touch the photo-realistic drawing, but Flash pushed his hand away. 

“Hah, not a chance. I learned this on my own. Well, that, and also you could say I’ve got something of an eidetic memory. So what I see in my memory, I can redraw it pretty accurately,” Flash explained, finishing the basic lineart of the illustration. 

“Wait… isn’t that cheating?” Metal asked. “Being able to see an image in your head already and drawing it like that?” His eyes then glazed over the other sheets, and he scrutinized the floor plans. 

“Nope, that’s just the way it is for some robots and humans. Also, I drew up some blueprints for this warehouse. You said that we’re gonna turn this place into a castle, right? We should start by adding rooms and whatnot.” Flash continued, pointing his pencil at various spots in the floor plan. “Well… after we figure out what to add.” 

Metal pulled a stool over by the desk and grabbed for another pencil. “Right… you got any ideas for what we nee--” 

“Bedrooms. And a bathroom, to start,” Flash said. 

“Why a bathroom? We don’t have digestive tracts, so we have no use for toilets or anything like that.” 

“Bathrooms have baths, Metal. And I need them. It’s a necessity for me.” Okay, it completely was something that he wanted and didn’t need, but Metal didn’t have to know that! The feeling of soaking his metallic joints in a hot bath was something he craved almost as much as he craved Quick Man in his life. Maybe one day he could combine those two favorite things of his. Okay, now there’s no question about it, they have to have a bathroom now. Flash took mental notes for later. 

“Alright, alright, we’ll make a bathroom.” Metal tapped the pencil against his bare chin. “How many bedrooms should we have? And how big should they be?” 

Definitely enough room for two, Flash immediately thought. But… this does bring up a good question, though. Well, a few, actually. “That depends. How many robots are we recovering? We should probably have a minimum of four, since there’s eight of us. And the size… well, I’ve recorded the dimensions of the interior on there. How much space would you need?” 

Metal’s eyes flicked down at the floor plans again and he studied the measurements, before exhaling. “...I have no idea. I’m happy so long as it’s anything bigger than the tiny little rooms we were assigned to back then.” 

Flash nodded in agreement because as much as he liked his little blue room, he couldn’t do jack scrap in there nor Quick’s. He began to lightly draw out lines until he separated the floor plans into little squares, which soon became the ‘rooms’ they were going to build. “There,” he said, “I made them big enough so that two Robot Masters can live in one room. Would you be okay with that? I’m guessing that you and Crash probably would love a room entirely just for the two of you,right?” 

Metal smirked. “Heh heh… you’re damn right.” A room for just him and his partner to share, a big spacey room with doors and locks… All of the private time that they could have to themselves… He blinked to suddenly find a white hand waving in front of his face. 

“Did I lose you already?” Flash joked, “Is the idea of you two having your own room _that_ enticing?” 

“YES. We’ve had almost no private time to ourselves in the past week and it’s killing me.” 

“Hah. Wanna trade?” Flash asked. 

“No thanks,” Metal huffed. “I can think of something better. It involves two bedrooms, four robots, and tons of free time to themselves.” 

“I like the sound of that.” Flash smiled and sketched out another room on the paper. “By the way, Crash and Heat like food, so I imagine a kitchen’s needed, right? Probably a computer room or some kind of tech place-- Oh, and the remaining space here is probably for a good living room, too. Living… recreational-- the fun room. How’s that sound?” 

“I love it,” Metal said, smiling. “I think we’ve got mostly everything down.” He drew a smiley face in the corner of the page as Flash sketched out the remaining rooms on the paper. 

“Yeah,” Flash said, smiling, before said smile dropped as a thought came into his head. Well, the same thought that’s been in his head ever since he awoke to Dr. Light’s face a few days prior. He figured that Crash has never really asked Metal about this, and Metal… he didn’t know very much about Metal. It’s not often that somebody got to know Metal Man personally. Wasn’t Heat the only one who used to talk to him regularly? “Metal,” he began, “...before we begin any of these plans though, could I talk to you about something?” He pushed the papers away and stood up. 

Metal put his pencil down and the two made their way over to the couch-bed hybrid where a sleeping Crash rested face-first against the mattress. They sat on the edge of the bed. “Yeah, what is it?” 

Flash’s bright green eyes met Metal’s red eyes and Metal understood from that kind of look that it was something serious. “...Metal, I know you both are excited about wanting to turn this place into a castle, but are you certain that you want to make this our home base? Have you thought about going back to Dr. Wily?” 

Metal broke eye contact and looked down. His metallic fingers fumbled against one another idly, and the robot went quieter than usual. Eventually, after some thinking, he spoke carefully. “...I have thought about it. Quite a lot, actually. But… I don’t know really know what to do...” He looked at Flash Man, silently asking for help with his eyes. Flash nodded in understanding and gestured to continue on, for he was going to lend Metal an audio receptor. Metal thought carefully, and breathed slowly before he began. “Honestly, I’m a little curious to see where we’d end up if we went back to Dr. Wily. But I’m kind of terrified, too. He ditched us, and had seven more wars without us, and… if we’re upgraded versions of Light’s robots, wouldn’t the generations after us be considered improvements of us? More advanced and modern than us? You have me thinking again, Flash. If we went back to Dr. Wily… what would happen to outdated scrap like us?” 

“You’re asking the wrong guy, haha,” Flash chuckled, before clearing his throat. “But still, anything could happen. We might not even be scrapped. Besides, what other options do we have?” 

Metal’s eyes narrowed and his mouth curved into a grimace in disgust at the thought of… “Lightbots. We become Lightbots. But there’s no way in hell we’re doing that. It just feels… so wrong. You know?” Flash nodded and Metal paused, before continuing. “Both of our options suck though. One option will strip us of what remaining pride we have and the other might possibly kill us for real. It’s like being stuck between a hard place and a rock, man...” Metal was about to continue but then he saw Flash’s face contorting, and he raised an eyebrow. “What? What did I say?” 

Flash remained quiet, trying to hold it in, until he began to snicker and grin. “A hard place and a Rockman…” 

Metal narrowed his eyes, processing what he meant but that until it suddenly clicked with him. “O-OH SHIT, I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!” He laughed loudly, and Flash’s own laughter exploded forth. 

“G-GOD DAMNIT METAL, THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SERIOUS CONVERSATION!” Flash laughed and rested a hand on Metal’s shoulder. “If I knew you were a punning piece of scrap this whole time, I would’ve tried to visit you more often, you know that?” 

Metal’s laughter calmed down and he smiled widely. “Seriously? A-and I’m sorry about that, too… y-you know… Not being around for everyone all that much…” He looked down and his smile turned sad for a moment. 

“No, no, don’t apologize about that,” Flash interjected, his own laughter calming as well. “I get it, you needed your space. You weren’t the only robot that also disappeared to god knows where. Bubble and Wood were fairly M.I.A. as well. Well-- Wood probably just ran off into the forest or something and I don’t know where Bubble was usually. Anyways, we’re getting off-track.” 

“...Thank you, Flash. Sincerely.” Metal huffed, his smile brightening again just for a moment. “...but yeah, anyways. I really don’t know what to do. I didn’t talk to Crash about it because… uh, when he started thinking about it on his own, he almost blew this whole place up. He’s pretty upset at Dr. Wily.” 

“Understandable.” Flash mused. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t upset at Dr. Wily a little bit. But is this really something he should hold against him? Did Dr. Wily have acceptable reasons for leaving them there? Of course, he didn’t have all of the information about him in recent years. He most likely didn’t have a decent reason, but he didn’t know that for certain. And he was beginning to get very tired very quickly of being uncertain about Dr. Wily. He wanted to know for sure. 

“What do you think, Flash? What would be the better choice?” Metal asked him, resting his chin in his hands. 

Flash’s own hand went to his chin as well as he went over their options. Right. Join Light’s family and start actively helping out human society. And work with their natural enemies, Lightbots. Or, return to Dr. Wily where… god only knows what he’d do with us. Or stay right where we are, … ...and then what? If we’re not serving a human master, then what are we supposed to do? Flash thought to himself. 

What’s a robot without a purpose then? 

“...I don’t know, Metal,” The blue Robot Master finally answered. “I-I have no idea what’s the best thing to do. Or the right thing, either. But you know what? Quick probably would know. He’s good at making decisions like these.” He crossed his arms. 

“You think so?” Metal said. 

“Absolutely. He was the leader amongst all of us, after all. And, well, I’ve spent enough time with him to know that when he’s serious about something, he usually makes the right choice.” Flash said, a small smile creeping onto his face. 

“That’s surprising,” Metal said, “I guess if I were around more, it wouldn’t be so, huh?” 

“Nah, it’s definitely surprising. Well, to me, at least. It still boggles my CPU to this day that a robot like Quick is as competent as he is.” Flash said, grinning. “Makes me feel lucky, heheh.” 

“From what I’ve seen with your letters, I’d say you’re more than lucky,” Metal added. “So we’ve just gotta go get Quick then, right? It’s set then, but can we still work on this place today? We don’t have a plan to recover him just yet. Not to mention, we don’t know where he or his station is, and then we need a means of getting there--” 

“I know where his station is. I know the exact coordinates of the place,” Flash said confidently. “We can get there in no time. But you’re right, we still need a plan, regardless. Quick’s station is… uhh, difficult to get into and around. Plus, it could be occupied by now if it’s been five years…” 

“Well, I know what we’re doing today then!” Metal said, standing up slowly. “I think we need to take a trip to the city. To collect information, to steal shit, and for breakfast.” He announced, before gesturing to the sleeping Crash. 

Flash nodded. “Agreed.” He turned to the sleeping Wilybot. “How do you wake him up, by the way?” 

“I, uh… usually don’t. I just get ready and do my thing and he ends up waking up on his own.” Metal began to look around for his helmet. Flash inched closer to Crash and gently shook him by the shoulder. 

“Crash, c’mon, it’s time to wake up,” Flash said gently. “Crash? Crash…” 

“I’ve tried that before, it’s not gonna work,” Metal said amongst shoving his head and hair into his helmet. 

Flash continued and soon enough, the orange Robot Master stirred slightly. “...hm?” Crash barely murmured. “...Flash..? What time is it…” He shifted and faced the temporal robot, but immediately lifted a drill to his face to hide his eyes from the bright daylight. 

“11:05. C’mon, sleepyhead, we’re going out for breakfast. Don’t you want to eat?” He chimed. 

“Mmm… okay, I’ll get up…” 

“Of COURSE,” Metal huffed from afar. _Of course,_ it works for Flash!

~~~~~

Flash sat down in the booth’s seat and set down two paper bags. Sitting across from him, Crash’s eyes lit up and he grinned a sharktooth grin. “YAY! The food’s here! What’d you get, Flash?!”

“Well,” Flash began, smiling and reaching into the first bag. He pulled out what looked like a colorful ring. “Considering this is a donut shop, I got us donuts. Apparently, they’re very sweet. Do you like sweet foods, Crash?” 

“I have no idea!” Crash said enthusiastically, eyes staring intensely at the shiny pink pastry ring in Flash’s hand. “But I really wanna find out, right now!” He tried to lean forward and bite at the donut, but Flash pulled it back, chuckling. 

“Patience, Crash. You’ll get it soon enough,” Metal said, sitting down with the drinks and straws. He passed one cup to Flash. “Water for the thirsty ‘bot~” He received a look from Flash, and then sat down with the remaining cups. “Smoothies for myself and Crash. I got you the mango flavor ‘cuz it was orange, and strawberry for me. If you don’t like it, we can trade.” 

“Metal, I want the donut.” Crash said, leaning forward as much as the table will allow him to, staring at the targeted pastry. Flash couldn’t stop chuckling. Crash was baring his teeth, and... Metal has never seen such an intense look of want in Crash’s eyes before. “I want that donut.” 

“Alright, alright,” Metal huffed, smiling behind his mask. “Flash, hand it over.” 

“Hmmmmm?” Flash hummed, before flashing a sharktooth grin of his own. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I quite heard you guys. What was that?” 

“I want the donut!” Crash barked, trying his best to get closer, but with how tight and snug the table was, Crash couldn’t really move himself much. He wriggled but to no avail. 

“C’mon, Flash, you’re torturing him,” Metal said, laughing. He leaned forward and tried to swipe for the donut, but Flash pulled his arm back further. “Flash, I swear! Flash!” 

“Only if Crash says ‘please’,” Flash cooed. 

“Pleeeeeaaaaaaseeeee?” Crash begged. “Please please please?” He would’ve tried to bring his drills together, but they were too big and therefore, stuck underneath the table. 

“Good~” Flash said happily. “Now only if Metal says ‘Flash isn’t a thirsty robot.’” 

“Oh, come on…” Metal interjected. “You know I can’t lie to you both like that…” He joked. 

Flash pursed his lips and stared at Metal, before quietly chuckling. And then his chuckles evolved into something louder, until he was doing a stereotypical evil mastermind’s laugh as he suddenly began to bring the pink donut closer to his mouth. He was about to sink his sharp teeth into the pink pastry when Crash cried out. 

“NnnnooooooooOOOOOO!” Crash whined in dismay, wriggling harder. “Metal, don’t let him get the first bite! If I don’t have that donut, I’m gonna blow up! I swear, I really will! I’m made of bombs!” 

“And drills.” Flash quickly added, lowering the donut into his mouth at an agonizingly slow pace. 

“METAL!!” Crash begged. The sounds of drills loudly whirring sounded from underneath the table. 

“OKAY, OKAY!” Metal cut in, “I’m sorry! You’re not thirsty in that way!” 

Flash closed his mouth and smiled, pulling the donut away from him. “Good. Here you go~” He handed the donut over to Metal. Said red Robot Master looked over to Crash, who faced him excitedly. 

“Alrighty, Crash. Try not to bite my fingers, okay?” Metal said, holding up the donut to Crash. Seriously, though. His fingers still have tiny punctures in them from the last time he fed his partner. Crash nodded and leaned forward, opening his mouth and exposing all of his sharp robot teeth. It was almost like Dr. Wily lined the inside of his mouth with Metal Blade edges. The drillbot then sunk his teeth into the donut and took the first bite. 

Immediately upon tasting the donut, Crash’s eyes widened and dilated slightly. He finished the donut quickly and he smiled widely. Sweet food... is... AMAZING! “Oh… Well Flash, I think I LOVE sweet foods and donuts! Metal, keep ‘em coming! ...please?” 

And how could I say no to an adorable face like that? Metal thought to himself. Flash pushed the donut bag towards them and he sipped at his water contently. “Metal, you should eat something, too,” Flash reminded him. Metal pulled out a muffin from the other bag and his mask retracted as he fed a happy Crash a chocolate donut next. “Also, that reminds me. Metal, I’ve been a little curious about it, but that scar, how’d you get it?” Flash asked. 

Metal stopped right before taking a bite into the muffin, and he exhaled softly. “Well, this scar… it’s a little embarrassing, to be honest.” He paused, taking a bite of the muffin. So this is what muffins taste like, Metal thought. _...Rejected._ He set the muffin down and passed it over to Flash. “I, uh, cut myself with a Metal Blade once by accident… ” He explained, his face dusting pink slightly in embarrassment. “Dr. Wily was too lazy to fix it so that’s why I have a mask now. And because of the mask, it’s why I also have these.” He pointed to his audio receptors’ extensions. “He said it would help me emote better.” 

“Ohhh, okay. Well, I mean, the Metal Blade’s a pretty strong and dangerous weapon, so I understand if accidents like that happen. But, uh… what about your hair?” Flash asked, curious and eating the muffin now. 

“My hair? What about my hair?” 

“It’s very uneven.” 

“Oh god, I didn’t think anybody would notice that,” Metal said, surprised. He dug into the bag and pulled out a sandwich in place of the muffin. Crash took a moment whilst he was not being fed donuts to sip at his smoothie, before said bot’s eyes widened again and he made a happy noise of approval. Metal’s face reddened more as he went quiet. “...I tried to give myself a haircut once…” 

“Oh no, don’t tell me. You tried to use your Metal Bla--” 

“SHUT UP.” Metal cut him off, blushing redder. 

“Metal no!” Flash laughed. 

“Yeah, I know NOW! Besides, you can’t judge me, you don’t have hair! ….right?” 

Now it was Flash’s turn to go quiet. He sipped at his water as his expression soured just a bit. “...Yes…” He almost hissed at the fact. “But just because I don’t have hair doesn’t mean I don’t know a few basic things about it. Like how you’re supposed to use scissors for haircuts.” 

“Look, I was new and stupid back then, okay?” Metal said, looking away from the temporal robot. Luckily, Crash cut in for the red robot. 

“It’s okay, Metal. I like your hair, at least. And are you really bald, Flash? Could I see?” Crash asked, curious. 

“Not a chance, sorry.” Flash answered, finishing his muffin. “Only one robot has the privilege of seeing my head.” 

“God, why would you show Quick your baldness? Even I know he loves to tease everyone about the little things they’re sensitive about,” Metal said. 

“Oh, believe me, he was teasing me about it way before I showed him,” Flash sighed. “I don’t know about you guys, but I almost feel like he especially likes me and has to tease me more than everyone else.” He cracked a smile. 

“Oh, really? I couldn’t possibly have known that,” Metal joked, smiling, “Quick likes you? My mind is blown.” 

“Does this mean that Quick’s gonna tease you about your scar now, too?” Crash asked the blue Robot Master. 

Flash gave Crash a confused look. “What scar?” 

“...oh, right. We don’t have mirrors at the warehouse…” Metal mumbled, before speaking up. “Yeah, uh… you have a scar on your face. A, uh, Metal Blade scar like my own.” 

“What?!” Flash yelped. He got up and bolted towards the bathrooms. Based off of the screams they heard almost immediately, he must’ve gone into the wrong bathroom, too. Metal shook his head and chortled, before reaching for another donut and holding it out for Crash to bite. He sipped at his own smoothie before Crash finished off the donut and then leaned closer to Metal to nuzzle him. He murmured a tiny ‘thanks’ and smiled widely. The cutting robot wrapped an arm around Crash and held him close. 

Crash adjusted himself in Metal’s embrace and happily savored the donuts he ate. He couldn’t believe how many years he’s lived and he’s missed out on such a simple but delightful pleasure this whole time. He had no idea that sweet food tasted so good, and that food could taste like all different kinds of things! He has so much to learn now! He gazed up at Metal eating the sandwich, who glanced back at him and smiled warmly. But Crash spotted something out of the corner of his eye. 

“Hey, Metal,” Crash said quietly, “I think we’re gonna be on TV.” He gestured over to the TV on the far wall, which Metal whipped around and faced. 

On the TV, the camera switched over to a cute pink-haired robot holding a microphone. She was standing at the very port they boarded the tour boat from almost a week ago. 

“Thank you, Chest. This is Plum on the scene. Currently, as of today, we still have no new evidence found of the Wily Island accident, other than the steel door that flew into the ocean alongside much debris. The door itself has the infamous insignia of the mad scientist Dr. Albert Wily. Could this be part of another scheme of his?” The camera then cut to what remained of Flash’s island, which seemed to have partially crumbled due to the stress of enduring Crash Bomber explosions from both on the island’s exterior and deep underground. 

“Yikes,” Metal breathed in a hushed tone. “And we weren’t even trying to blow up the island…”

“However, we do have an eye witness with us today. This tour guide seems to have seen and spoken with the two mysterious criminals responsible for this tragedy. Those criminals being a hand-less youth and an advanced cutting robot of some sort. Hi, yes, sir? We’d like to ask you some questions about the mastermind fiend Cedric Mandez and his terrifying robot partner in crime?” 

The interviewer robot girl approached the very same tour guide that Metal had scared with his Air Man impression. She was met with fearful, ugly sobbing in response. “Um… ...this may take a while…” The camera then swapped over to a heavily forested saw mill and a small, green robot also with a microphone. 

“E-Excuse me, sir. Sir? Sir, do you know of any cutting Robot Masters?” The green robot was asking, “...besides yourself, that is.” He held the microphone out to a small orange Robot Master that Metal and Crash quickly recognized as Cut Man. 

“I-I’m sorry, but I don’t really know about any other active cutting Robot Masters other than myself. Why are you asking?” 

“Uh… well, do you know about the Wily Island accident?” 

“What accident now? I’m sorry, but I haven’t been around a television or news radio in a week. I’ve been,” Cut then chopped another log with his Rolling Cutter, “at work this whole time. What happened?” 

“Oh, um… o-okay.” The green interviewer ‘bot faced the camera again. “We will follow up tomorrow afternoon with a short interview from Dr. Light himself on the incident. Back to you, Chest.” 

“Well that was something,” Metal spoke quietly, “If Cut Man knew we were active… haha, I can just imagine the look on his face.” 

“Do you think we’re ever gonna meet him for real?” Crash asked. 

“With how often we visit Dr. Light’s lab, probably.” 

Flash soon returned while strapping his chin guard back in place. There was a peculiar look in his eyes that was both a little unnerving and worrying to the red and orange Wilybots. 

“...Flash? You okay?” Crash asked. 

“I’m really trying to be,” Flash answered, his fists balling up, “but there’s a really big scar between my eyes… just… right there… for everybody to see. Just a big… silver scar...” 

“Hey, you’ll be alright,” Metal said supportively, “now we match, at least. And if you want, we can get you a really cool pair of shades if it bothers you that much.” 

“That wouldn’t work, I don’t have a nose or ears.” Flash stated miserably. It seems that Metal and Crash didn’t think as far as he did, as they looked stumped after that. He let out a heavy sigh. Just forget about it, he told himself, don’t let it ruin your day. “...so what have you two been up to?” 

“Watching the news,” Crash answered almost immediately. 

“Crash.” Metal said with a hint of warning in his tone. But it was too late. Flash’s eyes flicked over to the TV and saw the news story. Or rather, the pictures of the carnage they left behind. And then said eyes widened huge. 

“What happened to my island?!” Flash yelped.

Metal and Crash looked at each other. If they could sweat like Flash could, they’d be sweating bullets by now. Metal’s mouth tightened into a firm line, if only to indicate to Crash that he wasn’t saying a damn thing. Crash inhaled and bit the bullet. “We, ...errr, I, u-um, might’ve… maybe… blown up your island by accident… b-because I got really angry?” He stuttered, before flashing Flash an awkward grin. 

“You WHAT?!?” Flash yelled, before putting a hand against his face. He moaned in despair. _Quick, give me strength today..._

~~~~~

The city that the three of them could’ve captured and annihilated at one point in their lives now thrived and expanded as far as their eyes could see. The buildings and skyscrapers towered over them and in comparison to them, made everybody there feel insect-sized. Not to mention that there now were cars not only on the ground, but were high above them traveling through the air and in tubes. Billboards sky high on these buildings flashed Megaman’s face every now and then. Flash gazed all around, taking in the sights before him. Wow. Talk about a huge city, he thought. “How are we supposed to get around a city this big without coordinates or a search system…?” Flash asked.

Metal reached into their backpack and pulled out a large map of said city. Well, large was an understatement; Flash had to help Metal hold it. On said map, there were X’s crossed on some buildings. “This is why we’ve got maps still. So back when I was by myself, I did take notes on a few spots in this place.” Metal said. He pointed to an intersection. “So we’re right here, aaaand…” He then pointed to one particular X on the outskirts of the city. “That’s the junkyard. You’d be surprised at what kinds of useful stuff you’d find there. Humans are pretty wasteful. New stuff gets thrown in there every day. Also, the regular dump is somewhere there, too.” He pointed to another X that was much closer to where they were standing. “You can get more maps at this place.” And then to another X. “Library’s here. We can get info on Wily and Quick’s station there.” His finger then moved to a large circle around a set of buildings. “Aaaand this area, I presume, is where everybody shops for things. If you’ve gotta buy or steal something tonight, that’s probably the place you should do it.” 

“You know, I’m fairly impressed that you managed to find all these places on your own,” Flash said, studying the maps and memorizing street names. 

“Well, I mean, I did this all on… Day 1 of this whole experiment happening. Right after Dr. Light kicked me out of his house.” 

“What did you do after that?” Crash asked. 

Metal went quiet again and Crash could tell from the look in his eyes that he wasn’t remembering good things right now. He looked like he was staring through the two of them and off into the distance. “Well… uh, there was a lot of… freaking out. ...and getting lost a lot…” Crash’s and Metal’s eyes met. “I-It wasn’t really a good time.” 

“Will you be alright this time on your own?” Flash asked. “Because I want to take Crash with me. Can you go get the information for us?” 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine, and yes to that, too. What are you two gonna do?” Metal asked. 

“Well… even though Quick’s not here yet, we’ve still got a castle we can build, don’t we?” Flash asked, winking. Crash grinned excitedly and nodded enthusiastically behind Flash. “We’re probably gonna go get some stuff for the ‘house.” 

“Gotcha. I’ll see you both tonight then, okay?” Metal said, before stuffing the map back into the backpack and giving it to Flash. He waved aloofly. “See ya, Flash.” He then walked to Crash and retracted his mask, and then gave Crash a little smooch on his lips. Crash leaned into it, smiling. “Bye, Crash~ Don’t do anything crazy now, alright?” Metal smiled at him sweetly, before turning around and heading off into the oncoming traffic, feeling content and confident with himself. Flash and Crash watched three different cars swerve out of Metal’s way and cause an accident nearby. Metal then turned around and called out to Crash. “Hey! Did me thinking about you... almost get me in a _car crash?”_

Flash Man was almost immediately on Crash Man, holding him back from chasing Metal and probably destroying that particular block of the city. “Metal!! METAL!!” Crash screamed, drills spinning rapidly.

~~~~~

The first thing they did was buy more water for Flash. And then a copious amount of cleaning supplies. If Quick decides that they all were going to stay right where they were, then he was going to make this place as spotless as their old castle, Flash thought to himself. Which shouldn’t be hard since they were living with Metal, but extra supplies didn’t hurt. The warehouse was much smaller than the Wily Castle they used to live in, but it was a big space nonetheless. After that, Flash bought more donuts for Crash. He didn’t have the willpower to win the battle against Crash’s puppy eyes and succumbed to his begging.

Flash’s hands dug into the backpack and scoured its insides for any remaining funds. They returned empty-handed. “We’re… out of money already,” Flash breathed in disbelief. “Shit.” 

“‘M sorry, Flash…” Crash said with his mouth full of delicious donut. He dug into his bag until a donut hung from his drill tip. “Here, mebbe a donut’ll make you feel better.” 

Flash took the donut and ate it quickly. “Thank you, Crash. Well… if we’re flat broke right now, that only leaves us with one option left.” He announced to his ‘brother’. 

“Stealing?” Crash suggested. 

“I was going to give it a fancier name, but yes. We’re still far from done today. What do you think we should go ‘borrow’ first?” Flash asked Crash, smirking a little. 

Crash looked at the blue Robot Master, and then the waters, and then the large bags that he was carrying, and the backpack and donuts. “Something to carry our stuff, for one thing. How are we going to take all of this home?” He was strong, of course, so carrying everything wasn’t an issue, but it would get in the way eventually, and he was already clumsy enough as is. 

Flash smiled. “Cars. We’re going to ‘borrow’ a car, first. And that should be easy for us. In fact, I could snap my fingers and the job would be done.” He boasted, looking behind him at the cars lined up alongside the street. His optics then focused on one particular car parking itself nearby. Target acquired. His white hand retracted itself as his buster arm began to light up.

“Ooooo, can we test that?” Crash asked, curious and beginning to grin a little. 

“Of course, we can.” Flash turned his head again and watched the car’s owner exit the car and head towards a building. He faced Crash again. “Are you ready? Don’t blink, okay? One... two…” 

Snap! 

Or ‘snap’ was the sound Crash thought he heard but it was almost immediately replaced by jingling. He saw instead of Flash snapping his fingers all the way, there were suddenly car keys in his hand. Flash was smirking, his body sparkling. “...three. See?” 

“Wow, you were right! ...but wait. Do you know how to drive a car?” 

“Of course, I do. Doesn’t all of our brothers with hands know how to drive?” Flash asked as the two of them walked towards the vehicle of choice that they’ve decided to ‘borrow’, a rather large and spacey minivan. 

“NO,” Crash blurted out, “Metal SUCKS at driving! He almost crashed one of the cars in your station while going down that tunnel!” 

Flash stared at him. “Excuse me? I-- how. H-how? That tunnel was essentially a straight line for miles...” 

“He was texting and driving at the same time.” 

“I have so many questions right now. But hopefully, he’s learned from that. Texting and driving is no joke.” Flash huffed, watching the unsuspecting victim of their felony enter the building, not having realized what had happened to her car keys. He sighed. “Finally… C’mon, Crash, let’s get out of here.” The two of them climbed into the driver and shotgun seats of the minivan. The engine purred to life with the key in its ignition, and Flash very slowly and quietly drove the car down the street. “God, that really was easy…” Now to just make their way to the outskirts of town and whatever awaited them in the junkyard and dump was as good as theirs. 

“Why does this car reek of scented powder and fast food?” Crash said, eyes narrowing. He tried to pinch his nose, but he ended up lightly hitting himself in the face with his own drill. “Ow.” Right. Drills for hands. Of course. 

“It smells like that?” 

“You don’t smell that? How can you not? It’s so strong! Ugghhhh,” Crash groaned, still trying anyways to crush his own nose with his drills. 

“I don’t have a nose, Crash.” Flash retorted. 

“...oh yeah.” Crash murmured. He turned around to look for the source of the strange smells, which he found pretty quickly. The source of the smells… It was fairly small, wearie a green onesie, and strapped in one of the passenger seats. And then it blinked at him. Crash got into a wide-eyed staring contest with it, processing what he’s looking at before panicking. 

“Flash…?” Crash began, stuttering and growing nervous, “I-I think we stole more than a car. ” 

“Oh? What else is in here? I gotta focus on the road, Crash.” 

“Fl-Flash, j-just turn around.” 

“Is it bad?” He was met with Crash beginning to breathe erratically. He turned around. “It can’t be too ba-- oh. Ohhhhhhh, that’s a human infant.” 

“YEAH, THAT’S A HUMAN INFANT!” Crash yelled. “FLASH, WE STOLE AN INFANT!” 

“Oh god. Ohhh god. Crash, do not panic right now. Don’t panic.” Flash said, his breathing quickening. 

“YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO YOURSELF!” Crash yelled at Flash. 

“SELF, DON’T PANIC.” Flash yelled at himself. The human baby in question looked between the strange blue man and orange man, and babbled curiously at them. Crash was hyperventilating. 

“WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS?!” 

“I-I don’t know, okay?! I feel like a moron for not checking the car before! Ohhh my god, this is all my fAULT!” Flash suddenly yelped, having looked back at the road and swerving the car to the right to avoid a car collision. “Shit!”

“GOD, FLASH! And this is MY fault! I was the one who said we needed something better to carry our stuff!” Crash panicked, looking down at all the bags down by his feet. 

“And I suggested we steal a car. B-but anyways, w-we should just stop the car and drop the infant off somewhere, r-right?” Flash said. 

“O-okay, y-yeah, we can do that.” Crash agreed. 

The car slowed down, soon to a complete stop on the side of the city road. Flash got out of the driver’s seat and unstrapped the baby from their basket. Crash was watching with wide eyes. Flash picked up the baby, unsure of how to hold them. He eventually decided to hold the baby like he would hold a bouquet in his arms. The baby looked up at Flash and then drooled all over him. Flash didn’t really know where to put the baby, so he carefully set the baby down on the sidewalk. The baby stared at Flash and kicked their little sock-covered feet, babbling more. 

“S-stay right there, okay? D-don’t get in trouble and just s-stay put until the police get you or something,” Flash stuttered, backing away until he was in the car again. He started the car again. “O-okay, let’s get out of here. W-where were we going again?” 

“Um… the junkyard, right?” Crash answered. 

Flash nodded shakily, and began to drive off. The baby stared at the car driving away from them and tilted their head in confusion. The blue Wilybot couldn’t help but notice the baby in the rearview mirror and he watched them until he turned a corner. The baby just sat there and did nothing. Well, that was as good as done… right? 

The next few minutes was spent mostly in silence. Flash took a nearby exit onto a highway and began to speed up the car. Luckily, Crash still had the map with them. If he was following the map correctly, then the junkyard should be just ten or so minutes away then. All is well and fine now, so… why can’t he stop thinking about that baby? 

_It’s just a human infant. It can’t do anything._ Flash thought to himself. _But that’s exactly it. It CAN’T do ANYTHING. Human infants are POWERLESS. Doesn’t that mean it can’t defend itself?_

Flash grit his teeth. If anything happened to that baby, it wouldn’t be his fault. It’s not even his baby. 

Suddenly, a portion of coding he wasn’t familiar with restated itself within his head. _A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm._

_Screw these Three Laws!_ Flash yelled mentally at himself. His grip on the steering wheel tightened. _It’s not my fault._

_The infant will be fine._

_…_

_Why am I feeling so bad about this right now? I’ve terrorized humans before..._

_It’s not my fault. It’s not my fault…_

He swore he could hear Quick’s voice right alongside his thoughts right then. 

_**Flash. What if that infant dies?**_

_Quick, why do I care so much?!_

_**You’ve always cared, Flash. You’re feeling guilty right now.**_

“God damnit,” Flash hissed under his breath, accelerating the car to a speed that would’ve made Quick Man proud. 

“Flash?” Crash asked, growing nervous again. “F-Flash? Flash, y-you’re going really fast…” 

“Hold on,” Flash said, beads of sweat beginning to drip down his face. It’s not going to die. The first droplets of rain began to patter against the windshield and the blue Wilybot turned on the wipers. Wait. _Humans can get sick from rain._

Thunder boomed loudly above them. 

_Shit._

“Fuck!” Flash yelled before suddenly swerving the car harshly around and making a U-turn in the middle of the highway. 

“FLASH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Crash screamed, desperately trying to hold onto something, but unfortunately, he had drills for hands. He poked almost everything around him, but there was nothing to cling to. 

“I can’t leave it by itself! I can’t be responsible for it dying!” Flash yelled, speeding up. Cars were screeching and honking left and right as they zoomed towards the Robot Masters’ car head-on, swerving out of the way. Flash snaked his way through the oncoming cars and tried very hard to ignore the sounds of the car crashes behind him that he was causing. He didn’t need those thoughts to mix with his anxiety-ridden ones already. The baby that he abandoned was the highest priority right now.

“YOU MEAN THE INFANT?! WHY DO YOU CARE ABOUT IT?! _WE’RE_ GOING TO DIE!” Crash screamed, jamming his drills through the car’s roof in an attempt to secure himself in his seat. 

“I-I DON’T KNOW!!” Flash shouted panickedly. _**Because you feel bad. You don’t want to be an infant-murderer. You want to be able to sleep tonight.**_ “I’m sorry Crash, but we have to go back!” He pressed his foot against the gas even harder and sped up faster. The fact that they haven’t collided with a single car yet is a miracle to him. 

“AT LEAST BE ON THE NORMAL SIDE OF THE ROAD THEN!” Crash shouted. 

The minivan they had stolen now was roaring down the wrong side of the highway, commanding all before it to drive aside. “C’mon… where was that exit… We didn’t take it too long ago…” Flash muttered to himself. He noticed something flashing on the horizon. He immediately recognized the lights and sirens and… 

Oh no. 

“F-Flash, what is that?!” Crash asked fearfully. “WHY IS THE ROAD STOPPING ALL OF A SUDDEN?!” 

Police cars lined up all across the highway road. Police robots were littered around the cars, and were aiming their busters and guns at the Wilybots’ minivan, waiting for the command to fire. “That’s a police blockade,” Flash explained, “It’s there to stop us from going any further.” 

“B-BUT THERE’S NOWHERE ELSE TO GO!” Crash yelled, looking between the blockade, and the two barriers on either side of the highway. “WE’RE GONNA HIT THEM! FLASH!” 

“H-hold on, let me think!” Flash barked, gritting his teeth and trying to keep his nerves down. All he wanted to do was fix a problem he caused, and this happens. _We’re going to crash into them in approximately 54 seconds at this speed,_ Flash thought to himself. _And if we do, we’ll be caught and can robots even go to jail? Shit, I don’t know. Well, if neither of us break from the impact and the explosions to follow, that is. We shouldn’t, though. We’re built to be tough. And if we are that tough, then…_

Flash took his right hand off of the wheel and began to charge his Time Stopper. “Crash, grab the backpack and brace for impact!” 

“WAIT, WE’RE ACTUALLY GONNA HIT THEM?!” Crash panicked, but scrambled for the backpack anyways. 

“SORT OF NOT REALLY BUT GET READY!” Flash yelled, counting the few remaining seconds left before impact. The police bots were already firing at the car. The blue Robot Master then let out a battle cry. “AaaaaaAAAHHHHH!!” 

Crash Man promptly joined him, but with a cry of confused terror. “AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!”

~~~~~

“And there you go, sir. You’re all set with your library card.” A kind and soft-spoken voice barely cut the silence in the air, as the owner of said voice handed over a card across a desk.

Metal graciously accepted the card and whispered back to the desk clerk, “Thank you very much.” He did a slight bow before leaving the front desk and wandering into another room. God, that took way longer than he thought it would’ve. Why is it that the library has more precautionary rules for robots than the _airport_ does? Oh well, humans are still stupid. Behind his mask, he was grinning from receptor to receptor. Finally. Now that he has his own library card, he had unlimited access to all of the available books and magazines and Internet in the library. And it was all for free.

He hasn’t felt this powerful and absolutely _ecstatic_ in a very long time. 

Where to begin...? His optics wandered all over the staggeringly tall bookshelves, the books in special display cases because they were so old, the magazine racks, the books on the second and third floors… Was this paradise? Metal then spotted an assistant over in one of the corners of the grandiose room. He approached her quietly and tapped her shoulder. “Excuse me?” He whispered. 

The assistant turned and jumped at the sight of Metal Man. “A-ah, um… h-hello there. Are-- a-are you here by yourself, sir? I really do not want to be rude, but we have a few rules for robot visitors...” She asked in a hushed tone. 

“My master is in the children’s books area right now. But thank you for your concern,” Metal whispered yet another lie today. “Could you help me, please? I’m not very well-acquainted with libraries, so I’m confused with navigating these aisles. I need a couple of books on Dr. Wily’s history… I’m assisting my master with a book of her own.” He winked for good measure. 

The assistant seemed to have brightened up considerably at the robot’s manners and subtle enthusiasm. “O-oh, it would be my pleasure. Here, I’ll lead to you to the robotics section.” 

“Thank you. Also, after this, I’d like some help looking for some articles about an event that occurred 5 years ago as well.” Metal whispered warmly, before pausing. “...and maybe some help finding some good romance novels, too?” He smiled to himself behind his mask.

“Oh!” The assistant inhaled quietly before gushing, “I-if you want, I can give you some recommendations, because some new books came in this week and they’re very, very dramatic and feeling, and it’s by one of my favorite authors and…” She kept going on and on. Metal, however, didn’t care, as he was getting more and more intrigued by the novels she was talking about. It’s been over five years since he’s read a decent romance novel and damn it all, it’s been way too long. 

“Could you show me?” Metal asked quietly. He’s only daydreamed of getting to try out this many books back when he was stationed in his factory. Although he was excited, he also couldn’t help but wonder if Crash and Flash were doing fine. They’ll be alright, Metal thought to himself, Flash seems like a really level-headed guy. He wouldn’t get the two of them into anything crazy.

~~~~~

“Flash, you’re insane.” Crash huffed. “And this is coming from me of all robots!”

“I could be, but I don’t really care right now!” Flash retorted, picking up his pace so he could reach Crash’s speed. The two were running through the rain-drenched streets, away from the magnificent explosion of donuts, cleaning supplies, and baby toys that happened a few seconds ago on the highway behind them. “God, where is that street?!” _Please, don’t let it be too late._ He flipped through his memory databank until he came up with an image of the street he left the baby on, and the street name, too. Thank everything that he had a photographic memory. 

Flash hung a left and Crash followed suit. They bolted through the pouring rain and booming thunder. They took a few more corners and continued on until Flash suddenly stopped at a particular city road. Flash was scrutinizing the road and then spotted the street sign. His eyes widened. “This is the place! Find the infant!” He ordered, immediately jumping into action. He began to run a scan while checking every nook and cranny. 

“Okay, on it!” Crash nodded and checked around the streets. No baby there. Where could a baby go? It could barely even move around… where could it have gone? Crash thought. He looked underneath a bench. “Infant? Where are you?” Then he checked some nearby bushes. “Infaaant?” He peered inside a garbage can. “Are you in there?” Nothing in response. And he couldn’t smell the baby anywhere either. But he knew it was close by. Amongst the loud sounds of thunder and heavy rain, his audio receptors faintly picked up on quiet human infant crying. That suddenly grew much louder? He turned around and jumped to find Flash sparkling right next to him, holding the baby against his chest. 

“Crash, I found it!” Flash said, panic written all over his face, “G-god, it’s so cold and it’s shaking and whimpering a-and it’s probably sick now and it’s gonna die and I DID THIS to it!” He grit his teeth and was practically running in place. His core felt disgustingly cold with a flurry of ugly feelings. He did this to the baby. How could he do this to something so defenseless? 

“Flash, don’t feel that way, w-we can fix it! We just need to take it to a doctor! A doctor for people in a people lab! I forgot the word for it...” Crash explained. 

“That’s called a hospital, and y-yeah, we can drop it off there! God, we shouldn’t have left it alone in the first place… Where’s the map?” Crash dropped the backpack to the ground and Flash immediately took the map out and found out where they were pretty quickly. His eyes looked all over the map until he found the city’s hospital, which was a few blocks away from where they stood. “There. It’s south of here.” Crash poked Flash’s chest and he looked up to see a purple scarf on his drill. 

“Here, put this on the infant. I don’t think it likes being rained on,” Crash said. Flash grabbed the scarf and covered the baby with it. The baby was still wailing, but they seemed to have calmed down a little bit with the softness of the purple scarf on them. Flash hesitantly pat their back. The two got up and began to run again. 

Crash was having a hard time keeping up with Flash, who was running as fast as his legs could take him. “Flash, go on without me! I’ll catch up in a little bit!” He called out to the blue Wilybot. 

Flash looked back at Crash and called out, “Thanks, Crash!” He began to charge his Time Stopper again. He had absolutely no idea how much time this baby had left, so he had to assume almost no time. _Quick, lend me your speed…_ Flash thought desperately. 

To Crash Man, it looked like Flash was suddenly teleporting amongst his running, getting farther and farther away each time until he couldn’t see him anymore. It took a little bit of exploring on his own, but Crash eventually spotted the hospital in the distance. When he had finally reached the front entrance, he had bursted through the front door, promptly destroying said entrance, and scared the ever-living scrap out of the desk clerk. 

“Lady, did you see a robot come in here with a human infant?!” Crash barked at the trembling clerk. 

“Y-y-yes,” She stuttered, shrinking back from the intense wide-eyed gaze that Crash was giving her. “The baby is being looked at by our d-doctors right now. A-are you a friend of that r-robot?” 

“Yeah, now tell me where they are!” 

“T-third f-floor, Room 305.” 

“Thanks!” Crash said as he left the terrified desk clerk and found the nearest staircase. Upon reaching the third floor, it didn’t take him long to find his ‘brother.’ Flash was sitting in a chair in the hallway, hunched over and unmoving. “Flash?!” Crash immediately was at his side, kneeling down. “Flash, what’s wrong?” 

“W-water,” Flash croaked out, his voice sounding raspy and broken. “Please…” Crash immediately dropped the backpack he was carrying, and tried his best to take out another water bottle for Flash with his drills. The blue Wilybot drank the whole bottle on one go and sat up. His face was drenched in sweat. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. 

“What happened?” Crash asked worriedly, taking a seat next to him. He tried his best to rub his back with one of his drills. 

“Used my Time Stopper too many times,” He breathed harshly, inhaling and exhaling deeply through his mouth. “I almost overheated.” 

“Just take it easy, okay?” Crash said. “I don’t think you’ll have to stop time any more today. We can rest when we get back home and I’m sure Metal’ll let you have the whole bed to yourself tonight.” 

“That sounds nice… Also, the infant is with a group of doctors right now. I told them that we found it by itself. They said they would call the police, so I think the infant’s mother should be heading over here soon. If she’s even slightly responsible.” Flash took a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness we’re not infant-murderers…” 

“Why would we murder that infant though?” Crash asked, tilting his head in confusion. 

“We wouldn’t. It’s just that if we had left that infant alone, it would die. And technically, that would be our fault.” 

“Why would it die? I don’t get it.” 

“Because they’re… it’s… infants are like…” Flash put a hand on his chin, thinking hard. How would he explain this? “Okay, imagine a Mettaur. But now imagine it without its helmet. And without the pickaxe or propeller, and it’s also unable to shoot bullets from its mouth.” 

“Okay,” Crash said and nodded, imagining it. 

“It’s pretty vulnerable right now, right? But now imagine it lacking the necessary drivers for it to speak properly and walk. And now imagine it with an incredibly weak firewall on top of that. And its exterior being made of glass instead of steel alloys. And because of all of that, it needs someone to watch over it and take care of it as it upgrades itself over time until it’s able to take care of itself.” 

“Oh god.” Crash said, his face scrunching up and cringing slightly at the vision. “I guess we did a good thing then, coming back for it. But wait... if human infants are that helpless and defenseless, why was it left alone in a car?” 

“I… I have no idea, Crash.” Flash said shakily. “I just don’t know…” He closed his eyes again and leaned back. 

The two sat peacefully in the chairs in the hallway, resting for the first time since the morning. Even if for a short moment, the two felt like they could breathe. However, it only lasted shortly as a hand tapped Flash’s shoulder. The blue Wilybot looked up to find a human woman looking at the two of them, cell phone in hand. 

“Excuse me, are you the two robots that found my baby?” She spoke. 

“Yes. Are you the infant’s mother?” Flash replied tiredly. 

“I am,” She answered. Flash sighed in relief. Oh thank goodness-- “What is wrong with you?” 

...What. 

“What’s wrong with me?” Flash repeated, dumbfounded. Crash looked up at the mother wide-eyed. 

“I find it extremely hard to believe that you just found my baby hours after he was already taken from me. How dare you not get him any sooner! I thought robots were supposed to be efficient.” She spat those words at them with such venom in her voice. She muttered under her breath, “All robots are the fucking same, incompetent junk just like the fucking police department…” 

Flash stared at the woman, mouth set in a firm line. He could not believe what he was hearing. Crash spoke up. “Hey, you can’t talk to us like that! We rescued your child!” 

“Shut up, no-hands. How could _you_ have done anything?” She spat at Crash. Crash’s pupils shrank and his eye began to twitch at the name-calling. He could feel his core quickly welling up with a fiery anger and a desire to deploy Crash Bombers all around her. 

“Ma’am, please treat him respectfully--” Flash tried to say, but the furious mother cut him off again. 

“I’ll give him respect when he deserves it, robot!” 

Flash glared at the fuming woman, who in turn, glared back at Flash. Crash could feel an air coming from Flash that sent chills through his circuits. It was strange to Crash; to feel both hot with fury and cold with apprehension at the same time. 

Flash finally spoke up, though. “Perhaps we should reserve our own respect then to mothers who are decent, responsible parents then. You know, ones that don’t leave their infantile children alone in cars to be stolen away.” He saw the woman’s eyes flare up with rage and suddenly-- 

BAM! 

Flash reeled back as fast as the woman’s hand did. “Fuck!” She hissed, holding and nursing her fist that was stinging with pain. “Fuck your ugly, scarred metallic face, and shut the hell up!” Flash held his own face in one hand. Crash snapped into action. 

“Lady,” he began, standing up. He was still much shorter than her but he did his best to channel Metal and look as intimidating as he could. He lifted his drills and began to spin them. “I think you need to back off before my ‘no-hands’ slip up.” He took a step forward and she took two backwards, looking fearfully at Crash’s whirring drills. Flash put a free hand on his shoulder. 

“Don’t.” He said quietly. 

Crash stared at the offensive woman and stopped spinning his drills. He hissed, “C’mon Flash, let’s go home.” 

Flash stood up slowly and grabbed Crash’s drill, still holding his face. Crash guided himself and Flash out of the hallway and soon out of the hospital entirely. The drillbot then looked over at his brother. “Flash, are you okay? Lemme see your face.” Said Wilybot removed his hand from his face and peeked at Crash. “Phew… thank goodness. Nothing got messed up. Not even your scar. How do you feel?” 

“Tired. Kinda frustrated. But mostly really sad,” Flash answered. They both continued to walk towards the next intersection. 

“Why sad?” Crash asked. 

“Because if that infant takes after his mother, he’s going to turn so rotten and nasty...” He said sadly. 

“Yeah… you’re right. But let’s not think about that. It’s been a long day, we should go home and rest and wait for Metal,” Crash suggested. He offered a supportive smile. “Tomorrow is another day right? We can have a better day tomorrow.” 

Flash faced Crash and smiled back softly. “Yeah, that’s true. Please let tomorrow come faster. I don’t want to wait around for this day to get any worse.” He walked a little faster ahead of Crash, crossing the intersection, when suddenly a car turned a corner and-- 

BAM!! 

“OH MY GOD!!” Crash yelled, running over to the fallen Flash who was face-down on the ground. “Flash!! Flash, are you okay?!” 

Flash groaned in despair against the pavement. 

Two men climbed out of their car, a large, black SUV-type vehicle, in a panic. “Oh my god, is he okay?!” 

“Good lord, Jeremy, you killed a man!” 

“I didn’t MEAN to hit him! Oh god oh god oh god--” 

“I swear he’s not dead, he’s-- oh wait. Nevermind, it’s just a robot. Crisis averted. Thank god.” 

Crash’s head snapped to the two offending humans. “JUST A ROBOT?” He snarled, rage burning within his core. His drills began to spin again, violently this time. “HE IS MORE THAN JUST A ROBOT!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!” He screamed. The two men screamed for their lives and ran away from the scene as Crash Man chased them. 

Flash took this time to very shakily pick himself up. He just HAD to open his big mouth, didn’t he? He cursed himself as a hand came to his head. He then leaned himself on the car, moving slowly until he reached the one of the car doors and opened it. “Craaaash…” He called out weakly. “Crash, come baaaack…” 

Luckily, Crash eventually did come back, huffing lightly. “I’m back, Flash. I chased them pretty far, heheh.” 

“Good job, Crash. Now before they come back, let’s borrow this car and go home and NOT blow it up, okay?” Flash said, opening the passenger seat’s door for Crash to climb in. He soon made his way over the the driver’s end and got in. “And check for children in the back, too.” Luckily, there was absolutely nobody else in this vehicle other than the two robots. He looked at the steering wheel and found the car keys left in the ignition. “Idiots.” 

“Well Flash, there’s no humans in here, BUT, I do see something on the floor here!” He leaned down and precariously picked it up between his drills. It was some kind of black square... “I have no idea what it is.” It seemed that Flash did, though, as his eyes widened. 

“That’s a CD wallet! Gimme that!” Flash said, grabbing the object and unzipping it. As he flipped through the CDs, he gasped and became starry-eyed. “Oh shit! Madonna, Jackson, Jackson again, Mercury, Bowie, Perry, Benatar… yeeeeeessss! Today was completely worth it!” He clutched the CD wallet to his chest, closing his eyes and smiling, savoring the one saving grace of today: SOMEBODY in this god-forsaken hell-city had decent music taste! 

Crash watched Flash in awe, before his mouth twitched upwards into a smile. Soon, he broke out into tired, but happy laughter. Flash looked back at Crash, still smiling. “What are you laughing at?” 

“Aahahhahaha-- it’s just! You got punched in the face and hit by a car just a few minutes ago, and you’re just here gushing over these old CDs! I-I can’t-- aahhahahaha!” Crash held a drill over his face and laughed louder. Flash couldn’t help himself and started laughing right alongside Crash, and turned the car on. The ride home was a good one.

~~~~~

The sky was a muted indigo. The clouds were finally clearing up. The moon dimly painted the city in a faint light.

Metal sighed happily. Today was one of the best days of his life. He has SO MANY NOVELS now to read. He didn’t care if he had to be gently ushered out of the library because it was way past closing time. He didn’t care if the weight of all the books that he rented out was slowing down his march home. He fortunately had enough money on his person to get another backpack for himself. He made his way through the empty city streets, being only one of two figures awake at this ungodly hour. Metal didn’t care about a thing in the world. 

The other figure watched the robot curiously from afar on a nearby rooftop. “Interesting,” the mysterious figure whispered to itself, “A ‘2nd Gen’ active...” before disappearing without a trace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Being Flash Man is suffering. WOOPS 
> 
> So I've spent a REALLY long time on this chapter and aughahsdklf I hope it's good! Please please tell me what you think or whatever thoughts you have in the comments, I greatly appreciate it!


	7. The Fastest Man On Earth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: VERY LARGE CHAPTER AHEAD (It's almost the size of my nsfw hahahaha)
> 
> Okay first of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYBODY!! OH my gosh, I am absolutely elated and ecstatic that I got so many supportive and kind comments in the last chapter! You guys are the absolute best! It's really really motivating me to keep writing more! (IevengotfanartforthisficandIscreamedhappily) 
> 
> Second, I struggled hard to make this chapter. Not with what to write, but because my laptop actually broke! I finished this chapter using both my cell phone and a much older, shittier laptop that could barely work Google Docs hahahaha BUT I PREVAILED AND CAME OUT VICTORIOUS. But the fantastic news is that my laptop just got fixed today! YIPPEE~~ 
> 
> Third, I can't believe that we've already hit Chapter 7! WOW! This is the most that I've ever written for a fanfiction before! I'm so excited! And you know, seven is an awesome number. A grand number, if you may. We should celebrate with some sweet Megaman music! ;D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dir91aKxNWo 
> 
> Please enjoy the chapter! :D I've had special plans for this one for a while!

Today’s the day. 

Finally. 

Today is finally the day. 

_Today is finally THE day!_ A certain temporal Robot Master screamed internally with anticipation, grinning from receptor to receptor. He’s been waiting for this day for… well, as long as he’s been active so far. The day that they can drive out with their stolen car to another station, and recover another one of their brethren. Today marks the day that they’ll finally be able to start figuring out what the hell to do with themselves. Today’s the day that nobody gets to be a third wheel anymore. Today is the day that they’re going to recover Quick Man. 

These thoughts alone left Flash with about only 2 hours of sleep and overwhelming surges of excitement fueling his tired body. 

He’s literally been counting the days down to now, and like that of a New Years count he has already been mentally preparing himself for their reuniting. He could see it now: Quick wakes up, and they share a very romantic kiss, and then they party with Metal and Crash, and then spend the rest of their new lives happily together… Flash sighed contently and internally gushed as he hoisted up a sleeping Crash Man over his shoulders and-- GOD, he forgot how heavy he was! His legs trembled as he struggled to carry him outside of the warehouse and to their stolen car. He opened the door and lightly tossed the drillbot on top of a helmetless Metal Man, who was lying down in the backseat, also asleep. The poor cutter robot was rudely awakened by a weight equivalent to that of a small anchor thrown onto him and he wheezed out, “GWUFK-- What the shi--” Flash closed the car door, blissfully unaware to the fact that he just crushed his brother with his own partner. 

Flash giggled to himself. We’re going to recover Quick, he thought gleefully, Quick and I are going to be together again aaaaahhhhh WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?! Returning inside the warehouse, he gathered both backpacks and filled them with water bottles and what few E-tanks they had stashed away from previous city trips. He also put the unopened camera in one pack, and that book Metal’s begun to dive into in the other pack. After some consideration, he decided to grab one of the sofa cushions for Metal and Crash to rest on, as well. He returned to the car and threw all of that on top of Metal as well, before hopping into the driver’s seat and turning on the car. The engine purred to life and Flash fumbled with the radio stations and air conditioning for a moment. Metal laid underneath Crash and all of their trip’s supplies motionlessly in tired defeat. “Flash…” He groaned quietly, “...what time is it…?” 

Flash didn’t take his eyes off of the road in front of him as he began to drive. “It’s 6:32am. Also, good morning, Metal~” He chirped happily, carefully driving through the forest path to the nearest country road. 

“Jeez… That’s a little early, don’t you think…?” Metal muttered. 

“Not at all. I mean, if Quick and Crash switched places right now, you’d probably be up this early too, right?” 

“Quick would’ve just woken us all up regardless…” 

“True, true. But I’m not wrong, am I?” Flash cooed, turning onto the mountainside road. He wasn’t exactly TOO sure of which roads exactly to take, but once he could spot Dr. Light’s house in the distance, then it’d be a much easier trip from there. It shouldn’t be too hard to spot, he told himself, Dr. Light lives in a house that’s in a neighborhood full of nothing but woodland creatures and green hills. 

Metal exhaled softly. “No, you’re right… And we did decide that today was the day to go get Quick. I never said when exactly today we would’ve prepared… you got me.” He shifted tiredly and knocked everything except Crash and the cushion to the ground, and then moved the cushion underneath him. “...where are we going, by the way?” He asked. 

“Dr. Light’s laboratory. I figured that since I have direct coordinates, it’d only make sense to put them into a teleporter, right?” Flash explained. Metal simply made a quiet noise of approval. Well, hopefully, he made the right guess. Dr. Light HAS to have a teleporter. How else would Megaman have gotten to our stations so quickly in succession? Flash thought. Knowing Dr. Wily, he probably sent the coordinates of all of their stations to Light five years ago right along with his challenge and war proposal, because he was THAT confident his creations would win. God. It was almost like a game to Wily, wasn’t it? ‘Haha, I bet you can’t kill my robots before you get killed, Megaman! But there’s no way that’ll happen, and there’s certainly no way that it’ll negatively effect my robots’ psyches! I am a caring and loving father! I don’t view my creations of life like expendable tools! I’m certainly not going to forget about them and abandon them if they fail!’ 

Flash rubbed the bridge of where his nose would’ve been if he were built with one, gently massaging his scar. This is one of the reasons why he needed Quick with him. Not only would Quick make him feel better, but he could help all of them finally address the large robot elephant in the room. Dr. Wily is in fact an asshole, but what are WE going to do about that? Should we confront him? Forget about him? Move on? Join him? Was that even worth it? What will happen if we’re not serving a master, though? He wished he had answers. He wished he had answers specifically from Wily, too. 

He’s mulled over it for so many nights, and he still can’t come to a solid conclusion to what the right thing to do is. It just leaves him feeling irritated and lost. He knows Metal and Crash have mulled over this, too. He could only imagine how distraught they must be. 

He looked in the rearview mirror and saw that Metal had went back to sleep. Crash was in a heavy, undisturbed slumber, comfortably on top of him. Flash smiled softly at the sight. That’s adorable. He focused back on the road and drove slowly up the road around the mountain. He eventually passed a clearing and a cliff, and he spotted it in the distance. Dr. Light’s house… However, unlike his razor sharp brother, jumping off said cliff and breaking his legs was not Flash’s plan. He slowly descended down the mountain, and drove along the next country road until he spotted Dr. Light’s house again. 

Flash hesitated before parking their vehicle in the rarely-used driveway of Dr. Light’s. He turned the car off and turned around. He began to try to wake up his sleepy, sharp brother. “Metal? Metal… it’s time to wake up for real now. Metal. Metaaall…” He said softly, shaking the red Robot Master behind him. Metal stirred awake almost as easily as Crash did a few days ago. He blinked tiredly and refocused his optics. 

“Flash… where are we…?” 

“Dr. Light’s house. C’mon Metal, it’s time to start the day, okay?” 

Metal looked between Flash and then Crash on top of him. He groaned softly before shifting upwards. “Mmm… okay. … Flash, what time--” 

“It’s 6:45am. You need help carrying Crash?” 

“Mmmm… yes…” Metal eventually answered. “I can’t move.” 

“Alright, I’ve got him.” Flash got out of the car and opened the passenger door, and proceeded to tug at Crash and pull him off of Metal and onto him instead. Crash was almost a complete deadweight, if not for the fact that he would shift or mumble something incoherent every now and then. Was he having a dream..? Robots can’t dream, though, Flash thought. He was trembling again but held Crash close to him as Metal crawled out of the car. 

“Here, Flash, give him to me. I got him…” Metal practically yawned out, holding his hands out. 

“No way, you’re too tired. You two are just going to fall over on each other.” Flash huffed, making their way to the front door. He rang the doorbell with his foot, as his hands were already occupied. Nobody answered for a minute, so Metal then rang the doorbell three more times before leaning against Flash, exhausted and sleepy. 

Eventually, the door opened, and a familiar blonde robot girl stood at the doorway, rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes. “H-hello?” She looked up and saw Flash Man as bright and excited as he could be, Metal Man looking as exhausted as he could be, and Crash Man unconscious. 

“Good morning!” Flash chirped cheerily. Metal mumbled something incoherent behind him. 

Roll yawned. “What are you doing here so early…?” She asked quietly, before noticing the unfamiliar car in the driveway. “And whose car is that…?” 

“That’s our car. Also, can we come in, please? My arms are going to detach if I have to hold him any longer.” Flash said, gesturing to the sleeping Crash. Roll nodded and held the door open for them to walk in. Metal immediately flopped onto the couch face-first whilst Flash laid Crash down on the other end of the couch. He sat between the two. 

“So we’re here for a few things…” Flash began, smiling widely, “We need to borrow your teleporter today, aaaand,” His fingers moved to his left forearm and seemingly fumbled with it until a hatch opened up underneath the flat end of said arm. He pulled a neatly folded piece of paper out of the hatch and handed it to Roll. “...this is for you. Metal and Crash requested it of me a few days ago.” 

Roll opened it and gasped upon seeing the skillfully drawn portrait of a girl that looks just like her, but with dark hair and a dress with an edgier and “evil-er” design motif. There were even little skull-shaped buttons adorning her dress similar to the buttons on her own dress. “Wow..!” She breathed, smiling widely. “Is this evil me?! Oh my gosh, I want to frame this, it’s SO pretty! You drew this?” 

Flash flushed in mild embarrassment and nodded, looking away. “Yeah. But i-it’s nothing, really. I just thought it’d be fun to shade in and add a few design elements of my own after I did the initial sketch…” 

“It’s not nothing! It’s one of the prettiest drawings I’ve ever seen! It’s so detailed, too! You draw WAY better than Elec does, and he already draws good!” She gushed. 

“Oh stop it, you’re starting to sound like Quick now…” 

“Okay, okay… but I’m still framing this! Thank you, Flash Man. I really love this!” Roll said before quietly making her way upstairs to her room. Until she gets a proper frame, lots of tape will have to do! 

Flash leaned back against the sofa and smiled to himself. Quick used to talk about framing his drawings all the time. He wondered if he ever actually did do that, though. Quick didn’t really seem like the kind of guy to ever stop what he was taking care of or running for to get a kazillion or so picture frames. There were a lot of things about Quick that he wasn’t really too certain about, even after all the time he’s spent together with him. He’s unpredictable and exciting, and he loved that about him. God, I miss him, he thought. 

He reached for the TV remote and flipped it on. The morning news was on, and soon enough, a report came up regarding his and Crash’s escapades in the city the other day. A large headline in bold text saying ‘CEDRIC MANDEZ CONNECTED TO BABYNAPPING AND HIGHWAY ACCIDENT?’ filled the bottom half of the screen. The news reporter looked quite serious and grim. 

“We have no confirmed sightings of Cedric Mandez at the scenes of the horrifying highway accident and the kidnapping of one year-old baby Emmy Chao. However, we do have a witness at the Monsteropolis Medical Center. We have interviewed the group of doctors who received the stolen baby at 7 o’clock that day, one of whom has had a previous encounter with the criminal mastermind during the Wily Island accident.” 

The camera then swapped over to and focused on a female doctor. “I heard him. I didn't see him, but that voice was unmistakably Cedric Mandez. I heard his voice. That voice is in my nightmares ever since the boat trip. He's like a ghost that won't leave me alone!” She began to grow upset and the other doctors around her tried to comfort her. 

The interview skipped ahead to another question. “Was Cedric Mandez with a robot this time?” The interviewer asked the doctor. 

She was still upset and sniffling but nodded her head. “Y-yes, he was. The robot gave us the baby. But it was a different robot this time. It wasn't the one from the boat.” 

“You saw this robot?” 

The other doctors around her nodded their heads. “We all saw it. It wasn’t a cutting robot at all.” 

“Could you describe this robot, please?” 

The female doctor paused, thinking, before she came to a conclusion. “Diagnosing the baby and checking for any damaged vital organs was our first priority, so I wasn't able to get a completely good look at him. But he looked male, he was a little short, and he was bald.” 

The other doctors nodded their heads again and agreed. “Oh yeah, definitely bald.” “Not a single hair.” “He had a shiny bald head.” “He was incredibly bald.” 

The camera cut back to the news reporter. “Other eyewitnesses at the scene of the highway accident could also confirm that this robot was in fact male and bald--” 

Flash changed the channel, subtly and bitterly grinding his teeth. THAT’S what they remember about him?! Suddenly, a wig commercial began playing and Flash threw his arms into the air. “THANKS, TV!” He growled before crossing his arms and scowling. He could hear Metal chuckling next to him against the cushion. 

“You just have no luck today, huh?” Metal joked. 

“This is my life. My entire life.” Flash groaned, frustrated. “Everybody gets to have colorful, beautiful hair and I get nada-zip. Not a wig o-or a retractable toupee or ANYTHING. Not even facial hair! That infant we accidentally stole had more hair than me!” 

Metal sat up slowly and stretched his limbs. “Well, I mean… that does suck, but it could always be worse. You could be Air Man. Then you don't have hair, a head, or a mouth...” Flash pouted and huffed quietly. Air Man did have it worse than him, but that didn't help him feel any better at all. Metal leaned back against the couch. 

Footsteps could be heard from upstairs and soon both Roll and Rock came down the steps, the both of them still in their sleepwear. Roll headed right for the kitchen. Rock looked very sleepy and spotted Flash’s and Metal’s heads peeping above the couch. “Oh,” Rock murmured before yawning, “We have guests over?” A soft ‘yeah' sounded from the kitchen. “...Mmmokay. Roll, Imma check on Rush. ‘Morning, everyone.” He headed towards the front door, but not before saying, “G’morning, Flash Man.” He then lazily ruffled Metal’s hair, making the cutter robot flinch. “Hey Elec, it's been forever. Don't fight each other, okay?” Metal was frozen in place, wide-eyed and flabbergasted. _What did he just say?_

Rock was about to open the front door when Metal snapped out of his shock and whipped around on the couch. “Did you just call me _Elec Man?”_ He asked, bewildered. 

Rock turned around. “Well, yeah. Aren’t you--” He stared at Metal for a few seconds. And then suddenly, it hit him harder than a Thunder Beam. “Oh my god, _you're Metal Man.”_ He said, eyes wide and beginning to turn very red with embarrassment. “Oh god, I-I'm so sorry. I-I’m really sorry- I only saw your hair a-and it looked like Elec’s a-and I-I’ve never seen you helmetless and--” 

“Can it, Megaman.” He said before turning to Flash. “Welp, I didn't need that last sliver of pride...” Metal breathed tiredly, “Flash, where’s my damn helmet?” 

“In the car.” Flash answered grumpily, staring at the TV. 

“Where’s the car keys?” Flash tossed them at Metal and it landed in his face. “Thank you,” Metal said before getting up and grumpily stomping past Rock out to the car. Rock flinched a little bit and turned to Flash, who was still scowling and crossing his arms. 

“What’s up with you?” Rock asked, desperately hoping to distract himself from the incredibly embarrassing mistake he just made. “S-something wrong?” 

Flash sighed exasperatedly. “I'm bald.” He seethed. 

Rock blinked. “Oh, I knew that already,” he said in relief. 

“You’ve seen my head before?” Flash said, turning and facing Rock.

“Yeah, I helped Dr. Light repair you. I’m his lab assistant. You’ve got circuit branches and nodes and tiny lights buried everywhere in your head.” Rock explained, before noticing the look of horror growing on Flash’s face. “B-but I think it's kinda cool, actually!” 

“It’s not cool! I want hair…” Flash whined sadly. “Beautiful, lush, soft hair like yours and Roll’s and Crash’s and even Metal’s…” He pressed his face into the couch cushion and made a muffled, miserable noise. 

Metal returned, fully helmeted and masked, and holding Crash’s helmet. “What did you do to him?” He asked, narrowing his eyes. He went over to the sleeping Crash and fitted him in his helmet. 

“N-nothing! He's just sad and bald…” 

“THANKS.” Flash yelled into the couch, muffled. Roll returned from the kitchen finally with dining utensils, napkins, and platters full of bagels and toast and eggs and bacon. She set it on the coffee table in front of the Robot Masters and Metal sat down, looking at the food curiously. Rock pulled a chair over, not wanting to fight any of them for a seat on the couch. Flash finally turned around and scrutinized the food. He picked up a bagel. “Donuts and eggs, huh?” 

Roll giggled and shook her head. “That’s not a donut! That's a bagel, silly!” She pointed at the little containers and jars set by them. “Instead of putting stuff on it, you spread stuff inside it with a knife. We’ve got jam, cream cheese, and butter. Your pick.” Flash hesitated between the three before picking the butter and making his bagel. Roll continued to set the table before announcing, “Oh, by the way! I thought of the perfect name for evil me!” She was grinning excitedly. 

“Well, let’s hear it. Who’s the Wily version of Roll?” Metal asked, smirking and making his plate. 

Roll grabbed her own chair and pulled it to the opposite end of the table from Rock. “Alright, get ready…” Dramatic pause. She sat down and inhaled deeply. “Drum.” 

“Drum?” Rock and Flash asked. Metal retracted his mask and grinned. He knew where this was going. 

“Get it? Between me and her, we’re…” Roll paused, and Metal’s grin widened. So did her’s. _“Drum Roll.”_

“Ba dum tsh!” Metal made the classic rimshot noise and Rock and Flash groaned irritatedly in unison. 

“That’s terrible,” Rock said, smiling. 

“Oh, oh! And it gets even better!” Roll giggled. “So you know how we’re Rock and Roll, right? Okay, okay, so imagine now…” She paused dramatically again. Everyone waited in anticipation. _“Drum and Bass.”_

“Oh my gosh, that's perfect!” Rock said excitedly. However, the Wilybots gave the two of them a confused look. 

“Who’s Bass?” Metal and Flash asked. 

Rock and Roll looked at each other. “Bass… Bass… How do I describe him…” Roll mumbled to herself. 

Rock spoke up. “Bass is… he’s... Honestly, I don't think you want to meet Bass. He's kind of a jerk.” 

“Kind of?” Roll cut in. 

“Okay, a big jerk often. But there's good somewhere in him… hopefully… Anyways, he's Dr. Wily’s greatest creation. He’s obsessed with power and being the strongest robot--” 

“And obsessed with you…” Roll added, pouting. “Doesn't he have anything better to do with his time?” 

“Yeah, he really likes fighting me. But uhhh… yeah, you’ll know it’s Bass when you see him. What else… Oh yeah, he has a robot wolf, too. Oh, and DO NOT challenge him to a fight. He'll probably destroy you without breaking a sweat.” 

“Noooooo no no don't challenge him to fight, that’s a big no-no.” Roll said. “He’ll blow you apart and then level everything around you.” 

“He can't be that strong… You're making it sound like he’s the be-all and end-all of robotic power.” Metal said. 

“He kind of is, actually!” Rock said. “I can't think of a robot stronger than him, to be honest. Well, other than the robot that you three are helping Dr. Light build...” 

“He even has a scientific compound named after him!” Roll said. 

“Well then,” Flash said, taking a bite out of his bagel, “And I'm guessing he probably doesn't respect his elders, either?” 

“Hell no!” Roll said, eliciting surprised chuckles out of the two Wilybots because did Roll just swear? “He makes fun of Dr. Wily and Dr. Light all the time. And forget about older robots! He treats them all like garbage because they’re ‘weak' and ‘inferior’ compared to him and Rock’s apparently the only one worthy of fighting him blah blah blah… I think it's just a big, bothersome waste of time.” 

“Hm. He sounds like a spoiled brat to me,” Flash commented, reaching for the eggs next. “If he were built in a batch of eight like us, if he were built knowing that somebody was his weakness and that he was somebody else’s weakness, he probably wouldn't act so high and mighty towards other robots. ...If you're built with a weapon that can hurt someone that means a lot to you, it kind of humbles you, really. Doesn't wanna make you flaunt about your power. It's not really something… to be proud of.” Flash said quietly. He was looking down at the eggs on his plate and Metal could practically feel the bad memories resurfacing within his brother. His receptors’ extensions flattened a little. 

“I agree with Flash there.” Metal said before pausing, and exhaling softly. “It doesn't exactly feel nice knowing how many of my younger brothers I could easily destroy with my Metal Blades. Especially since I’ve already felt my own body get torn apart by them. I wouldn't wish that on any of them. Bass sounds like the kind of guy though that doesn't have brothers, or friends either probably, so it's fun to him, of course.” 

Rock was silent, surprised by their humility. He blinked at them wide-eyed. Roll added in, “Well… he has a robot wolf…?” 

“That doesn't count.” Metal said, grabbing a toast and butter. He turned to Rock. “And what are you gawking at? Surprised?” 

Rock blinked and shook his head lightly. “N-Noth-- er, ...I-I'm sorry. I kinda am surprised.” 

“It’s not like destroying you was our entire lives, you know. That was our purpose for being built, yes, but half of us weren't even looking forward to it.” Flash explained. 

“I guess… maybe Quick was the most enthusiastic about it?” Metal mused before eating his toast. 

“Nah. Quick didn't really care all that much either. He was just hoping Megaman could match his speed. He had other things he cared about more.” Flash said. 

“You mean like that date, right? Hm? Hmmmmm~?” Metal teased, grinning and playfully elbowing Flash. Flash’s entire face began to flush red. 

“Oh my god Metal, stop!” Flash said, lightly shoving him. Metal fell over and broke out into giggly laughter, making Flash’s mouth betray him and contort upwards into a smile. Roll started giggling too, but Rock looked confused. 

“A date…? Are you and Quick like… a thing, too?” Rock asked. 

Everybody gave him a look. 

“Whaaaat, I don't know everybody’s love lives!” He said defensively. Thankfully for Rock, before everyone could start ripping on him again, slow footsteps sounded and Dr. Light finally made his way into the living room. He spotted the Wilybots and looked surprised. 

“I was curious to see what all the commotion was… Good morning everyone! It's good to see you three here again, too.” Dr. Light chirped jovially. 

“Good morning Dr. Light!” Rock and Roll said in unison.

“Good morning, Doctor.” Metal and Flash casually greeted him.

Roll stood up and continued, “I made you some breakfast, too! I'll get your plate for you, okay? And would you like coffee or tea?” Metal cringed slightly at the mention of that awful tea. 

“Coffee, please. Thank you, Roll. Today is going to be a busy day. Magma Man’s coming in later today for repairs, and Fire Man and I will try to see if we can find work for him, too. And not to mention, if our regular Wily Robot Masters are here right now, that could mean there’s another one of their brothers they wish to recover, yes?” Dr. Light said. 

“Indeed, Doctor. Well, not to mention that we do have a monthly report due soon as well, right?” Metal said. 

“Efficient as always, Metal Man. You’re correct.” Light complimented, smiling warmly at the Wilybot. “Oh, and I almost forgot. Rock, have you checked on Rush, yet?” 

“Yeah, I--” Rock suddenly paused, before getting up and running towards the door. “I forgot to!!” 

Metal turned to Dr. Light, pointing at the door. “Doctor, Megaman called me Elec Man today, please ground him for 100 years.” 

Dr. Light simply laughed at him and smiled. This experiment is looking to have been a good idea so far, he thought. Ever since he had reactivated these Robot Masters, he had been fully prepared to expect them to run away or try to seek out Wily. And yet… to his pleasant surprise, they’ve never attempted to yet, as far as he knows. He had no idea how much freedom Albert allowed them five years ago, but based on how they’ve been acting and behaving now, it seemed almost like doing regular activities and freely travelling was a whole new world to them. He was watching them discover and explore a new life right before his eyes... His heart welled in happiness at the thought. He looked down at Crash who was still dead asleep against the couch and placed his hand on his head. “He certainly sleeps well.” 

“Oh, he’s not waking up anytime soon. He’s a very heavy sleeper,” Metal said. 

“He’ll wake up in approximately 3 hours.” Flash predicted. He then turned his attention to Dr. Light. “Also, do you have a teleporter, Doctor? I actually have coordinates to where we need to go next. It wouldn't be too much to borrow it, right?” 

“Of course not. But unfortunately… our teleporter broke soon after the 9th War. And we haven't exactly found the spare time lately to go look for parts to repair it… My most sincerest apologies to all of you.” Light explained, closing his eyes. 

Metal and Flash groaned in irritated unison. Metal looked at Flash. “Well… at least we still have a car, right? You up for a road trip today?” He suggested. 

Dr. Light raised an eyebrow at the mention of them ‘owning' a car, but smiled regardless. “Where do you three need to go? Perhaps I could help you.” 

Flash turned to the scientist. “We were hoping to go to Quick Man’s station next. That’s across the country from here, in the southwest desert. But that's so far away and we don't have any idea how to get there.” He complained. 

“Do you have a GPS in your car?” 

“What’s a GPS?” Metal and Flash asked simultaneously. 

“Here, take me to your car and I will show you. If you don't have one already, I can install something similar to it in your vehicle. You’ll be able to input your coordinates directly into it, and then it’ll give you driving directions to get there.” Dr. Light explained as Flash and Metal stood up. 

“Really? That’s great!” Flash said happily, heading towards the door. 

Metal was about to follow them, but then headed towards the kitchen instead. “Hey, Roll? Can you make some toast and sandwiches and stuff for Crash, please? We're heading out soon!” He called out.

~~~~~

A black car cruised down the empty roads at a fairly moderate speed. It's been hours and yet, it barely feels like they’ve even begun to get closer to Quick’s station. Although perhaps it may be because of the GPS device in their stolen car put them on a big road with a bunch of other cars. First, they made their way through forests, then plains, they crossed a river or two, more forests… When will they start hitting the desert?

Metal laid down against the couch cushion in the backseat again. He exhaled softly and his free hand grazed Crash’s back up and down lightly. Crash somehow was still snoozing on top of him, but he looked comfortable and content. Metal looked past him, up at the novel he was reading. He was already on Chapter 7 and he couldn't believe it. He also couldn't believe that this stupid girl didn't leave that deadbeat Arthur AND JUST GO FOR THE CLEARLY BETTER MAN. Who cares if Tristen’s a vampire?! He's a gentleman who risked going in the goddamn _sun_ for her! Both his right eye and receptor extension twitched. “Idiot… just leave him already,” he hissed. “Go live an exciting life…!” 

Meanwhile, Flash hummed away happily. He was simply cruising down the major highway with the rest of the cars. I can't wait~, he thought, Quick and I are going to be-- Suddenly, ‘Together Again’ began playing from the speakers. Thank you Janet, he thought. What a perfectly fitting song. Quick… just a little more time before we get you, okay? Just wait for me~ Flash sighed contently and quietly sang along. 

Metal continued reading when he felt somebody shifting slowly against his chest. He finished the last line on that page before folding the corner and looking down. He was met with curious green eyes sleepily refocusing and blinking at him. Metal smiled softly at his partner. “Hey Crash,” he murmured sweetly, “good morning sleepy~” He was met with tired, sharktooth yawning. Of course, Metal thought. He thought of an awful pun right then and there, but thought better than to trigger his love the second he woke up.

“Mmm… hi Metal,” Crash sleepily murred back at him, licking his lips before seemingly melting into the red Wilybot and smiling shyly. He planted a little kiss against his metallic chest and nuzzled against him. Metal put his novel down and wrapped his arms around Crash. 

“Sleep well, hun? You were out for quite a long time,” Metal spoke quietly and rubbed his back up and down. 

“Mhmmm, I did… It was so odd, though. I was in sleep mode, b-but… but… I don't really remember much… It was like I was seeing and hearing things while I was sleeping and recharging. It was almost like I was awake, but it didn't really feel like it,” Crash explained sleepily. Metal’s face lit up in recognition, before he lightly called out to Flash. 

“Ha! I won the bet, Flash! Robots _can_ dream! Pay up!” 

“I have nothing to give to you!” Flash retorted before glancing down at the muted GPS to check for more directions. 

Metal chuckled before looking back at Crash. “Mmm, sorry. You just had a dream, Crash. They're like…” He pondered it for a moment. “...little adventures you go on while you're sleeping. It could be about anything ever. They could even be memories. Humans have them all the time, but nobody really knew for sure if robots could have them or not. ‘Guess you just made history, haha. What was it like..? The dream, I mean. What was it about?” 

Crash blinked and contemplated for a moment. He peeked down at his partner’s golden chest light and gently tapped it with a drill tip. Metal’s smile widened and he closed his eyes. The light began to faintly glow. “I don't really remember most of it… that’s weird, but what I do remember…” Crash murmured, peering into the warm light. “...I was flying. I didn't even know how I was, but I was flying through the sky and I could do whatever I wanted. I felt free. A-and I wasn't afraid… I wasn't scared.” 

Metal stared at Crash, before his chest light began to glow brighter. His expression softened. “Do you want to fly one day, Crash?” He asked gently. 

Crash nodded slowly against him. “Yeah. It looks fun.” He laid there, relaxed, looking into Metal’s light. “...There used to be a lot of birds in my station. Robotic ones and real ones. They used to fly wherever they wanted. In the sky, in between the pipes and framework, sometimes they’d lay an egg and more birds would come out and fly everywhere. I was stuck on the ground and ladders, but I liked watching them.” Crash smiled. “I like birds. They don't have hands like me, but that doesn't stop them from anything at all.” 

Metal’s smile widened and he pulled Crash closer to his face. “You’ve got a wonderful dream there, Crash. I want to see you join the birds and fly. I promise you it’ll happen eventually.” He leaned forward and planted a little smooch on Crash’s cheek. The drillbot giggled and kissed Metal back on his cheek. The two gazed at each other before smooching their lips together. 

“Metal…” He purred happily as he moved his arms up and tried his best to hug Metal. The red Wilybot hugged him back. 

“Have I ever told you how pure you are sometimes?” Metal purred back, gently brushing his metallic fingers against Crash’s jawline. “There are robots out there that would probably dream about revenge or ruling over humans or having all the power in the world, but you just want to achieve liftoff and fly, hahaha~ Don’t ever change, Crash,” He cooed at the orange Wilybot. 

“I won’t Metal. But you need to stay as cute as you are, too. And funny, and talented, and sweet. You’re wonderful the way you are.” 

“Even with my puns?” Metal asked. 

Crash pouted cutely and looked away. “Yeah, even that…” He mumbled. He then looked back to Metal, but immediately got distracted by something out the window. “Ooooooh! Metal, look, look! In the air!” He asked excitedly. He tried to point with a free drill up in the sky. 

Metal leaned back and looked out the window at the sky. He couldn’t see much other than clear skies and a distant bald eagle. Was he talking about the eagle? Guess there’s only one way to find out~. “Whatcha _hawking_ at there, Crash?” He said, grinning widely. 

Crash’s head immediately snapped towards Metal and he stared intensely at the cutter bot. He let out a little warning growl. “Metal…” 

Metal completely ignored the warning. “What? I thought you were _eagle_ to see that large bird?” 

“You’re PUNNING, Metal!” 

“Hehehehehehe~ I know I am~ Aren’t I just _talon-ted?”_ He had a scrap-eating grin by this point. 

“Stoooooooooopppppp!” Crash cried out, pushing a drill against Metal’s face lightly. Metal started laughing. 

“Okay okayyyy, I’ll stop.” Metal said, much to Crash’s relief. “Sorry if I got carried away there, I’m a little… _birdbrained.”_

“UGHHHHHH,” Crash groaned. He then tried to shove his drill in Metal’s mouth to shut him up, but the cutter robot kept turning his head away in time. 

“Hey, heyyyyy. Instead of trying to put your drill in my mouth, maybe I can get your lips instead? I’ll stop punning for real~” Metal offered. Crash’s eyes lit up after a moment of consideration, and he eventually nodded. 

“Alright, alright, but if you start up your puns again, I will definitely drill you~” Crash cooed, before smooching Metal’s ripped lips. Metal returned the kiss eagerly, caressing him slowly. They broke away, and then smooched again, and then again. Soon enough, they completely forgot about everything minutes before and started to get lost in each other’s kissing. 

Flash glanced at them from the rearview mirror. Well, they’re having fun, he thought enviously. He then spotted the eagle from before soaring above them and following the eagle’s soaring, he finally realized it. The arid grounds around them, the yellowish and spikey bushes and cacti around, the distant mountains and cliffs… they were getting closer to Quick’s station! Flash’s core warmed up in excitement. The road before them was barren and empty, although he could spot some kind of large field and building in the distance. Perhaps a rest stop or a gas station of some sort. He felt like checking it out, considering from experience that once they’re truly in the desert, there won’t be any interesting place to go for miles and miles. 

Speaking of miles, Flash thought. He glanced down for a moment and noticed how low the car was on gas. He stepped on the gas pedal and sped up, heading towards the distant building. 

Upon getting closer and arriving at the building that towered over everything, Flash could tell that this place was an oil field of some sort. There was a little gas station right in between the road and the massive building. Flash slowly drove up and parked it in the station, and to his surprise, a robot approached their car. It was a lesser robot with a fiery motif about him. That didn’t help Flash feel any bit comfortable whatsoever. 

“Regular or premium, sir?” The robot droned tiredly. 

“Wow, you guys fill the gas -for- us? That’s pretty wild,” Flash commented, before adding, “Oh, and regular, please.” 

“I mean, there’s a state on the East Coast that already does that but yes, we do.” The robot said, looking up at Flash. Suddenly, its eyes widened in recognition upon seeing Flash Man. “Wait a second. Please excuse my rudeness, but by any chance, are you a Robot Master?” 

“Good eye. Caught up on your history or just a lucky guess?” Flash replied, smiling. 

“My boss tells me that I just have a knack for pointing them out,” The robot replied, looking down shyly. “Anyways, if you’ve got a moment to spare, this oil field’s got a tradition around here. My boss likes to personally greet any Robot Master that comes around here.” But before Flash could decline, the robot already ran off. 

Flash sighed. “Well… perhaps a small break from driving might do me some good,” He muttered to himself. “Hey Metal, Crash, you two doing alright?” He turned around to find Metal and Crash eagerly kissing at this point, Metal’s hands starting to curiously explore Crash’s sides again. “Well, that’s a yes,” he said to a metaphorical wall. He turned back to see the same robot from before approaching them again in the distance, but something black was following him and-- wait what the-- 

Flash’s eyes narrowed upon the small Robot Master that walked up to their car happily. He had some kind of weirdly-shaped buster arm and a scarf around his mouth. The robot cleared his throat and spoke up. “Heya, it’s always good to see some new faces around here. So, whadja come out all the way here for--” Suddenly, his eyes widened and narrowed suspiciously upon inspecting Flash’s face. “Say. What’s your name, kid?” 

Flash gave him a confused look. “It’s Flash Man. And for your information, I’m not a kid at all. I’m five years old.” He retorted.

The Robot Master raised an barely-visible eyebrow. “Huh. You look younger than you are. Also, I’m six, so I still get to call you ‘kid.’ It’s nice to meet ya, the name’s Oil Man. Did ya come out here by yourself?” 

“A pleasure. And I didn’t. Hey Crash, Metal, stop making out for a sec and say hi to Oil Man here.” 

Crash shifted and hummed shortly in his kiss before breaking it off and then pushing himself up and off of Metal. He looked around. “Wha-- where are we, Flash? Also, where’s this Oil Man guy--” He then spotted Oil Man tapping their window and Crash pushed the button on the car door to roll the window down. “Hiya Oil Man! I’m Crash Man!” He chirped happily. 

Metal slowly got up and sat besides Crash. “Oil Man… where have I heard that name before…” He breathed to himself. 

Oil Man smiled behind his scarf. “Hiya, Crash Man. The fact that ya even heard of me is pretty impressive. Not a whole lotta humans or ‘bots know about me, unless ya live here right in the middle of freakin’ nowhere. Or if yer part of ol’ Daddy Light’s family.” 

“You’re a Lightbot?” Flash asked. 

“Yep, built right out of the lesser-known-but-still-pretty-awesome Experimental Series of Light Robot Masters,” he declared, puffing out his chest proudly. “You’ve probably heard of my more popular bro, Time Man. We’re technically 1st Generation Robot Masters, even though we were built a year after Dad’s Industrial Series.” 

“Oh, we know Time Man, alright…” Metal chortled, remembering the bitter salt. 

“Woaaaahh, that’s really cool!” Crash gushed. “I can’t believe I never heard of you guys any sooner! Have you heard of us?! We’re Wilybots from the 2nd War!” 

“CRASH!!” Metal and Flash yelled at the drillbot. “You can’t just tell anyone that we’re Wilybots! That could get us in really big trouble!” Metal scolded. 

“But he sounds really friendly! And we’re not trying to fight anyone today...” Crash argued back. 

Metal exhaled softly. “...Yeah, I guess you’re right. But you need to be more careful next time, okay?” Crash nodded in understanding. Oil Man was chuckling at the scene. 

“Oh trust me, even if yer Wilybots, I don’t expect anything dangerous happenin’ today. Otherwise, why’d ya come out all the way here in a soccer mom car and why isn’t this place already in flames and tatters yet?” He reassured the Wilybots. 

“...Point taken.” Flash said, lifting an eyebrow. “Well in truth, we’re looking for one of our fallen brethren from the war. Do you possibly know of any laser research facilities in the local area?” 

Oil put a hand against his clothed chin. “Hmmm… laser labs… laser labs… Do abandoned ones count? If yeah, then there’s this one lab about 30 minutes from here that used to be real busy five years ago. I actually remember this tall robot dude that used to be in charge of it. Uhhhh… I forgot his name but he had a, uh, a ‘V’ on his head. Yeah.” 

“Hey, that’s the guy we’re looking for!” Flash said, smiling. “He had a ‘V’ on his chest too, right? And he was red?” 

“Yeah, yeah! I remember him now! I only got to chat with him this one time, a LONG long time ago. He called me ‘politically incorrect’, and I didn’t really get it then. But seeing humans’ reactions to me nowadays, I think he might’ve been onto something. Man, now you reminded me that I gotta ask Dr. Light for a different paint job...” 

“Politically incorrect? What could be so bad about you that you need to be re-painted a different color?” Metal asked curiously. 

“You wanna see? Well, suit yourself,” Oil said before he reached for his scarf and pulled it down, exposing his puffy, pink lips. Metal and Flash stared as the realization slowly sunk into them, before a look of horror flashed onto both of their faces. 

“I UNDERSTAND NOW,” Metal said in abject horror. _Dr. Light, what the FUC--_

“I don't get it,” Crash blurted, tilting his head slightly. 

Oil pulled the scarf back up over his mouth and smiled. “That’s okay kid, cuz once ya do, you’ll be discoverin’ an uglier side of human history that I wish I didn't know. Anyways, I was thinking of getting myself a nice navy blue color for the darker shades of my design. And maybe like a soft yellow for the lips. That way I’d still have that signature Oil look, but I won't offend at least half the humans that come by. Any advice for the rest of me?” 

“Well, you can never go wrong with red, if you ask--” Metal began to say. 

“NO REDS.” Oil cut him off, looking slightly triggered. “If I put any more red in my design besides my sexy scarf, I'm gonna be mistaken for my godawful imposter.” Oil reached behind him and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Crash. Metal took it for him. Upon further examination, it was a wanted poster of a robot. “You see that crappy bootleg of a robot? He’s been running around here calling himself Oil Man and then doing nothing but bad, causin’ us trouble. Giving inferior oil, disturbing the peace, pranking my lackeys, you name it. He’s a real disgrace to robots and he's been driving me up a wall for 3 years now. If you see him today, do me a favor and _run him over.”_ He explained. 

Metal and Crash scrutinized the paper, memorizing the illustration of the wanted questionable Robot Master...? “Huh. You know, he kinda looks like you, Flash. Look at it. He’s got your face.” Metal said, flipping the poster around and showing the temporal robot. 

Flash examined the drawing of the robot, before looking disgusted. “What the hell? He _does_ look like me!” He turned to Oil. “Well, I can't have that at all. You’ve got our backs, Oil Man. If we see this guy, we'll do nothing short of erasing him from existence altogether.” He said, smiling. 

“Oh! Oh! Can I blow him up?!” Crash asked excitedly. 

“Of course you can,” Flash chimed supportively. Crash grinned and let out a ‘yay' gleefully. “Oh, and also,” he added, focusing on Oil Man again, “for your new palette, I would recommend a light blue for your main body and lighter shades. But not too vibrant, or else you’ll look like Megaman. Make sure it's unsaturated and muted. It’d compliment the navy blue.” 

“Ooooohhh, I like that! Thanks a lot!” Oil grinned behind his scarf, taking a mental note. He then fumbled with the little hatch on the side of the car and opened it. He stuck his oil-dispensing arm into it. “Also, as much as I’d love to stay and chat, I’ve gotta get back to ordering everyone around. You can get my oil, it's a real cool variant Dr. Light invented that can basically fuel anything and anyone. Need a fill-up, by the way?” 

“Err… n-no thank you, but thanks.” Metal declined quietly. 

“Gotcha. Well, thanks for stoppin’ by. There’s almost nothin’ to do here ever so you three basically made my entire day.” Oil thanked them. “And that laser lab? Keep on the road until you see a fork and a split, and then take the left path and make the first right ya see. The place kinda hidden away behind this huge rock formation.” He removed his oil arm and closed the hatch. Flash turned the car back on. 

“Thank you very much! Take care!” Flash chirped, driving away. 

“Byeeeee!” Crash yelled, before leaning against Metal. “I like that guy. He’s a cool guy.” 

“Yeah, he’s definitely a cool guy,” Flash agreed. 

“That’s one for the Cool Guy Squad,” Metal said contently.

~~~~~

We’ve finally made it. We’re here, Flash thought to himself, giddy as ever.

The three Robot Masters stood in front of a small building that was completely shaded and kept cool by a huge, reddish rock formation that towered over everything in the immediate area. If it weren’t for the fact that the building was collecting dust for five years now, one could mistaken the building as completely new. “Flash, are you certain that this is the place? It’s awfully tiny-looking to be a battle station, let alone Quick’s.” Metal asked, following the temporal robot around the building, Crash in two behind him. 

“Oh yes, definitely! This is Quick’s station without a doubt. I’ve been here enough times, trust me.” Flash reassured him, feeling his circuits speed up with anticipation and excitement. “Besides, the place is MUCH bigger on the inside than the outside. Now, if Dr. Light’s teleporter was working, we would’ve been teleported riiiight…” He took a few more steps until he stood in front of a huge, closed garage door. “...here.” He patted the metallic door. “This is actually the safe entrance of the building, unlike the ‘front’ entrance where Quick layered the whole area with traps for Megaman to be caught in. Once we go through here, there’s an elevator that’ll take us right to Quick’s battle arena.” Flash said, before pausing and shyly smiling to himself a bit. And his room…, he thought. 

“Wait, hold on. Quick made his own traps here?” Metal asked. 

“Well, yeah. Dr. Wily had already built your factory for you beforehand, but Quick had to take over this mundane laser research lab himself. So modifications were needed. Your factory was dangerous enough as it were, and Crash’s station, from what I heard, was a perilous enough climb upwards that it only needed a few avian robots here and there, and it was all set.” Flash explained. 

“Yep, he’s right! Although to be honest, I’m not even sure how I managed to climb all those ladders back then,” Crash said, bringing a drill tip to his chin. “Let’s just say it took a long time.” 

Flash patted the garage door again before getting down and trying to lift it up. To his surprise, the door wouldn’t budge. “What--” He tried lifting again, but to no avail. The door would simply not move. “...Weird. Quick usually left this door unlocked…” He muttered to himself. 

“Too heavy?” Metal asked. 

“No, no. This door’s just locked from the inside. Hold on a second.” Flash said, before retracting his right hand into his buster and producing the end of said buster. It began to glow for a second before Flash fired a flurry of energy shots at the door. The blasts caused smoke and dust to whip up everywhere in the air. After the smoke cleared… the door was still there, unscathed. “Oh…” Flash said defeatedly. 

“Step aside, Flash. This is where I shine!” Crash said proudly, before aiming his drills at the door. He fired off two Crash Bombers at the door and they buried themselves into the ground. He was gonna blast this door into nonexistence! Flash hid behind Crash as the blinking Crash Bombers exploded violently, causing huge clouds of smoke and dust to whip up everywhere. As soon as the smoke began to clear up, …the door remained intact and unscathed. They all stared wide-eyed in disbelief. “I…” Crash began. “I’m useless...” He moaned in defeat. 

“You’re not useless. This door’s just being a piece of scrap to open. Lemme try,” Metal said. He manifested a Metal Blade in his hand and took a few steps back, winding his arm. He threw the Metal Blade at the door, only for it to be ricocheted directly back at him. “SHIT!” Metal luckily leaped up and out of the way just in time. “Okay, you know what? Screw this door, let’s find another entrance.” 

“That was the only entrance, though…” Flash said. 

“Well, sort of not really.” Crash chipped in. “There’s always the way that Megaman took.” 

Flash went quiet, eyes becoming huge as he realized… Crash was right. The front entrance was still there, left there open and untouched for years ever since Megaman left his mark on this station. His core began to go cold. “Oh god…” He breathed to himself. They’d have to go through Quick’s… traps… “Ohhhhh god…” They’d have to deal with… ... Flash shuddered and rubbed his temples. He took a deep breath. “...OKAY. Okay, we’ll go through there. But you two need to follow my lead and stay as close to me as possible, okay? Quick’s traps are probably the deadliest out of all of our stations.” 

Metal and Crash saluted. “Understood!” They said. 

The three Robot Masters made their way around the building and were back at the front entrance of the building. Flash signaled to them and kept his buster end out as he began to slowly creep into the building. Crash and Metal followed him cautiously. He opened the door… 

The inside looked as mundane as an office could be. Cubicles and tables and office equipment filled the space around them. The room was dark and everything was collecting dust. This, of course, wasn’t the ‘lab’ part of the laser research facility. Flash’s body began to softly glow white as tiny, subtle lights all over his body lit up. He crept forward with his brothers behind him, until they reached the back of the room. He saw a row of sticky notes lining the back wall. They all had arrows on them pointing in the same direction, to the left. Flash cautiously followed them until he came across a sticky note with a multitude of arrows drawn pointing downwards. A sticky note was above it. 

_In case of broken teleporter, break this floor tile. See you soon, Megaman._

_-Quick Man_

Flash looked down at the floor tile the sticky note pointed at and gently felt it out with his foot, as if to confirm something. He nodded to himself and then harshly stomped the tile, breaking it completely. The three peered down the gaping hole Flash created. The room that awaited them below glowed a soft red. 

“Alright guys, this is it,” Metal breathed out, “We’re gonna get Quick Man.” 

“God, I can’t wait…” Flash said under his breath, before speaking up. “Stay close to me, okay? I’m gonna begin charging my Time Stopper. You’ll seen why soon.” The three then took turns jumping down the hole. 

They landed in a room that could only be described as technological. It was well-vented, cool, and mostly very dark, save for every few seconds that the walls and floor would pulsate with soft pink and red lights, softly illuminating the entire area in warm hues. Metal and Crash looked around in awe. It wasn’t quite on the level of Flash’s cave, but the untouched glowing technology all around them and the dimly lit atmosphere made a boring old laser research lab like Quick Man’s station… oddly pretty. “Wow…” Crash breathed, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu. 

“I know, right?” Flash said, smiling as waves of nostalgia flooded his memory. “Take in the sights while you can right now, because after this there won’t be time at all to gaze around until we reach Quick. It may be hard to pick up, but his stage has an emphasis on speed.” 

Metal snickered. “Of course… Shall we, then?” 

“Right. Let’s go!” Flash said eagerly, jumping down the first vertical drop. Metal and Crash immediately followed suit. They landed on a lower level, and Flash didn’t bother with the little robotic worms shooting up at them. He simply soared over them as he lept from platform to platform. They went down another drop and Flash made his way down the steps to the next drop, a very small one before a huge, spacey drop. Metal and Crash tailed right behind him, but abruptly stopped as Flash held his arms out. “Hold on,” he said. He began to charge his Time Stopper again, but this time it was different. White light traveled up his body in circuit paths until they collected at his golden transparent scalp. 

Crash’s eyes took in Flash’s charging body lights, and looked him up and down. “How come when you charged your Time Stopper before, you weren’t glowing like this?” He asked. 

“That’s because when we were in the city, I was using my Time Stopper in short bursts. Those were about intervals of about 3 to 5 seconds of omitted time with each one. I’m charging my Time Stopper much longer than that for this. I’m going to try to freeze time for about 16 seconds.” Flash explained. 

Metal couldn’t help but peer down at the gaping abyss that was below them. “Is it because Quick’s traps are in this drop? What are his traps, anyways?” 

“Lasers. What else would they be?” 

“Of course.” Laser research facility. RIGHT, Metal thought.

“Okay. On the count of three, jump and follow my momentum, okay?” Flash warned. “One…” Crash looked down the drop and shuddered. He couldn’t describe the feeling in his metallic gut, but it was making him feel a lot more nervous than he should. His circuits felt like sparking, but not in a good way. Metal grabbed his drill and gently brushed his thumb along it. “Two…” Metal bent his knees slightly, preparing himself mentally for the fall. Crash took a shaky breath to calm himself. 

“Three!” 

Metal and Crash lept off of the edge and into the abyss below. Flash jumped immediately behind them. His internal clocks told him that he was about a little less than 0.423 seconds late on his leap, but that was a good enough amount of time to him. Flash’s white lights intensified and his body emitted a brilliant flash around everything, and in that moment, everything stopped. 

_**16 seconds left.** _

Flash kept falling, however. He immediately grabbed Metal and Crash in his arms and took them down with him, free falling. They were frozen and unmoving, unaware of Flash’s presence carrying them onward. Everything around them sparkled brightly. He landed on the ground and immediately darted towards the next drop, dragging his brothers behind him. 

_**10 seconds left.**_

He landed on a platform and spent no time standing around on it. He jumped down again, aiming for a particular drop out of the two available ones below him. 

_**8 seconds left.**_

He landed on the next lower level and dashed towards the drop. 

_**5 seconds left.**_

He jumped down the drop and landed in what he was hoping to land in, which was a safe area amongst the traps. He carefully set down Metal and Crash against the platform and he grabbed the nearby E-Tank. 

_**1 second left.**_

Flash took a deep breath. Everything around him ceased sparkling. 

_**Time resumed.**_

Metal and Crash jolted in place, before Metal gasped in shock and looked around wildly for his brother. “Flash?!” He yelped, just finding him before Flash pointed up at the hole they just fell down from. Above them, nothing seemed to have happened for about a good second, before suddenly, the room lit up in hues of orange, and the three Robot Masters were overwhelmed with waves of heat coming from above. Suddenly, thick, bright yellow lasers shot out screeching in the blink of an eye in all different directions in the room above. Crash and Metal felt their cores go cold with nervousness. 

“Those are Quick’s traps,” Flash said. “He called them Force Beams one time. They’re activated by movement, and once one laser goes off, they all go off. And they come out FAST.” He then looked at Crash and Metal with a very serious expression. “And whatever you do, DO. NOT. TOUCH THE BEAMS. They’re so hot that if you get hit with one, it will instantly vaporize your bodies into nothing. Even when time is stopped… I tried touching one five years ago while time was stopped and I lost my finger that day.” He grimaced, remembering that stupid mistake of his, and then the even stupider story he had to give to Wily when he asked for repairs. 

Crash was trembling in place. “Oh god, I don’t want to be vaporized…” 

Metal took his own shaky breath. “How did Megaman get through this…?” 

Flash paused, before sighing sadly. “He probably took my weapon before he went here…” He sat down on the platform, “Okay, actually, we might need to rest a little bit before going on. Crash, you still have that backpack, right?” 

Crash nodded and slid the backpack he was wearing off of his shoulders and knelt down. Flash dug into it, taking a water bottle out while passing the E-Tank to Metal. They took a few minutes to themselves, sharing the E-Tank while cooling down their circuits and wires. 

“Alright. Is everybody feeling good now? Are we all in top condition?” Flash asked, standing up. He began to stretch his legs and his joints. Crash nodded, but Metal gave him a confused look. 

“Why are you stretching?” He asked. 

“Because I’m gonna ask you a weird request in a just a moment. You both should stretch a bit, too, so nothing locks up.” Crash didn’t question him and began stretching his legs as best as he could. Metal sighed and joined them as well. Flash stretched his back and grunted. “So the level below us is very horizontal hallway and has no laser traps. When we get down there, I want you to race me to the end of said hallway.” 

“Ohhh, a race?” Crash asked, curious and brightening up just a little. “Why are we racing in Quick’s station? Just doing it to make him proud?” 

Flash chuckled and smiled at the thought. “Well… probably that too, but I need you guys to run as fast as you can so I can record your times and then gauge your speed. If I know who’s the slowest and fastest out of the three, I’ll know when to use my Time Stopper again. The area after this hallway holds the main laser traps and I can only charge my Time Stopper long enough to freeze time for 20 seconds. And 20 seconds isn’t enough to get past all of these lasers safely.” 

“How many lasers are there…?” Crash asked. 

“There’s… there’s a lot of them. Now come on, you guys ready?” Flash answered. The temporal robot leaped down the next drop and his brethren followed him down. They stood at the beginning of the hallway and the first thing they noticed was that every now and then, the walls around them would cease lighting up altogether for a short moment, turning the room pitch black. Flash began to light his body up again in response, illuminating the area. He got into position and so did the other two Wilybots. “Ignore any lesser robot you see ahead, okay? Okay, on the count of three again. One… two… three!” 

The race was short. The three bolted off, running as fast as they could down the hallway, but Metal easily took the lead, outpacing the both of them with his strong legs and strides. Flash carefully watched Metal increase the distance between them as the seconds ticked by within the time recorder inside him. He tacked down his time before Crash began to very slowly get just a tiny bit ahead of him. They reached the end and Flash took down his and Crash’s times, too. He wasn’t surprised though that no lesser robot got in their way. Megaman must've made scrap of them years ago. 

He panted at the metaphorical finish line and wiped the sweat off of his face. “Okay… I'm a slowpoke... Metal, you’re way faster than I thought.” He breathed harshly. 

“I mean, I was built with mobility in mind. But thank you. I’ve still got nothing on your partner in the running and jumping departments, though.” Metal said sheepishly, smiling behind his mask. “So, how’s our speeds? We do well enough?” 

“Your speeds are decent enough. I was just afraid that one of you would be like… Wood Man-kind of slow. Or Bubble-out-of-water slow.” 

“Pssssh, Flash please. Nobody is slower than Bubble on land. Poor guy.” Metal said, laughing to himself. He felt bad for him, but he also couldn't help but remember all those goofy attempts at walking years ago and laugh. 

Flash smiled to himself. “True, true.” He looked down the next drop, peering into the huge and long vertical fall that awaited them. He took a deep breath. Oh god. They only had one chance at this, and they could NOT mess up. I can’t mess up especially, he thought. He bounced lightly in place, mentally preparing himself. “Metal,” he began, “You’re the fastest out of all of us. If Crash or I mess up somewhere down there, grab us and run as fast as you can, okay? I’ll try my best to use my Time Stopper well.” 

Metal was peering down as well and he nodded. “I will.” He then turned and peeked at Crash, who was facing away from the drop, eyes shut tight. He reached his hand out and softly brushed his cheek. “Crash?” Crash flinched a little and peeked his eyes open at Metal, and the cutter robot’s wires twisted up when he saw how afraid he looked. “You’re going to be alright. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He murmured softly. “Flash and I will be right beside you.” 

Crash nodded and tried hard to keep the surges of fluttery electricity flowing through him from overwhelming his body. He believed Metal fully, but… he peered down the drop and the long, gaping, dark abyss below, and his body stiffened again. He took deep breaths and peeked at Metal again. He tried to say something, but nothing but a small, weak squeak escaped his mouth. By now, Flash began to pat his back and grabbed for Metal’s hand, only to place it on Crash’s drill. 

“Metal, don’t let go of him, okay?” Flash said quietly. Metal nodded and tightened his grip on Crash’s drill. “You gonna be okay, Crash? Deep, slow breaths. Take a few minutes if you need them.” 

Crash shook his head and breathed deeply. “N-no. I-I-I’ll be fine. Just… l-let’s get this over with as f-fast as we can. ...Please.” He stuttered. Don’t be scared, he told himself. It’s not like my skyscraper… It’s not like back then… Metal and Flash are with me. Don’t be scared. Robot Masters keep fighting even when they’re terrified. 

“Alright then… Just remember to keep moving, no matter what. Metal will cover us, and I’ll cover the both of you, okay?” Flash said. He began to light up again, charging his Time Stopper. “Follow my lead. To the count of three again. One… Two…” He grabbed Metal’s other hand. “...Three!” 

The three lept down into the gaping abyss. Flash carefully watched below him and mapped out where to run. Metal looked up at Crash, who was staring down with terrified eyes. Suddenly, the room turned orange, and the waves of heat overcame them again. Metal saw it then… the bright yellow lasers shooting out blindingly fast in all different directions above them, row by row. His pupils shrank to pinpricks and he looked back down. “Crash, keep looking down!” He yelped. They landed on a platform and leaped down again, descending down a multitude of platforms as the lasers above chased them. They descended into the next open space and descended down the platforms again with no issues. 

The next lower level they entered had a particularly big drop that Flash did not hesitate to leap down, taking Metal and Crash with him. Flash landed on the ground and kept moving, pulling Metal along. Metal landed fine, and kept moving, easily dragging Crash behind him. He felt light as a feather behind him. 

Wait. Metal’s cognitive programs rapidly turned like spinning gears. 

Crash isn’t supposed to be as light as a feather. Crash is very heavy. 

He glanced behind him, and to his horror, he was holding a blinking Crash Bomber. His core turned ice cold and dropped into his metallic gut. 

“METAL!!” Crash cried out from behind him, panic lacing his voice. 

He whirled around and saw Crash on the ground, trying to get back up on his feet. One of his drills was missing from his arms. Metal gasped sharply and yanked his hand out of Flash’s grip, causing the temporal robot to stop his momentum and turn around. Metal threw the Crash Bomber as high up into the air as he could before noticed something behind Crash. A bright yellow light was charging on the wall behind him… Crash was right in the middle of its line of fire. 

Terror flooded all throughout Metal and everything slowed down around him. His core and body went into overdrive instantly as he bolted towards the drillbot. “CRASH, GET BACK DOWN!!” Metal screamed. Oh my god, he’s going to die, he’s going to die, the LASER’S GOING TO VAPORIZE HIM, HE’S GOING TO DIE, DO SOMETHING DO SOMETHING DO SOMETHING-- Metal’s thoughts and fears ran rampant, and he leaped and dived in the air, pushing Crash back to the ground. 

Flash watched in absolute horror, running for the two. “METAL, NO--!” He tried to call out, but it was too late, he was already airborne and heading towards the ground face-first. The air around them became scorching hot and heavy and the room turned very bright and Flash activated his Time Stopper. A brilliant flash encompassed the room and placed twinkling sparkles everywhere, but it was already too late. 

_**20 seconds left.**_

Flash dashed to the two, but stopped in horror at the scene before him. The Force Beam had fired and stretched across the entire room, with Crash Man laying just one or two feet below the laser. A look of teary-eyed panic and terror was permanently etched onto his face in the stillness of everything. Above him, Metal wore a look of shock as he was frozen in place, centimeters away from colliding with Crash’s body. Well rather, his upper half was. The Force Beam had consumed Metal’s legs and the entire lower half of his body, burning it into absolutely nothing. 

Flash felt sick to his stomachs. 

_**18 seconds left.**_

I have to keep moving, Flash told himself. He grabbed what remained of Metal’s body and Crash’s arm and whirled around, ignoring what hissing and burning sounds he heard behind him. He HAD to keep moving or else they were all going to be vaporized. He bolted for the next drop and ran down the short rows of platforms, and dashed in the opposite direction to the next drop. 

_**12 seconds left.**_

Flash free fell down a larger drop, ignoring any items he saw. He had to keep moving. He jumped down another drop. He clutched Metal’s upper half against his chest and dragged Crash behind him. 

_**7 seconds left.**_

Oh god, there’s more drops. We’re not going to make it… Flash thought. He jumped down two more levels into the next big drop area. He wished he was as fast as Quick Man. He felt so disgustingly slow. “I’m sorry...” He whispered to no one in particular. Perhaps to Metal because he wasn’t fast enough to save his body. Maybe to Quick because he thought he could protect everyone from the death lasers that were meant to annihilate Megaman. Maybe because he just wasn’t quick enough. Probably because he wasn’t skilled enough to deal with the stage that he saw time and time again and kept going to over and over to visit Quick. Who was he kidding? How could he ever be suited for a stage like this? 

_**4 seconds left.**_

Robot Masters keep fighting even when they’re terrified. That’s what Quick told him and everyone else that day. He didn’t have the time to hate himself just yet. For god’s sake, he only had 3 seconds of time. He jumped down another drop, and looked behind him and _oh god, where the hell was Crash’s right arm?_ His breathing hitched. 

_**2 seconds left.**_

He was horrible. Crash is missing an arm because of him. Metal is going to start dying when time resumes and it’s all because he wasn’t quick enough to save the both of them. 

“I’m sorry…” Flash whimpered to himself. He wanted Quick by his side, even if he would’ve just been disappointed in him. 

_**1 second left.**_

He bolted towards the final drop and jumped down. The sparkles disappeared, but not the ugly feelings within him. 

_**Time resumed.** _

The three of them slammed down onto solid ground, before the room was illuminated brightly from above as the final lasers shot out a safe distance away from them. Flash pushed himself up and leaned against the wall, as he felt something hot burning at his abdomen. His breathing became unsteady, and he looked down to find Metal’s body was steaming and liquefying where the Force Beam had erased his body, dripping against him in hot, metallic drops. “Oh god...” he whimpered to himself, feeling hot tears begin to well up and stream down his face. 

Metal’s breathing slowed down as he recognized where he was and who was holding him. “F-F-Flash…” He stuttered, “Where’s Crash…?” 

“I-I’m here,” Crash whimpered, hurt, crawling and shuffling next to the two and leaning against the wall as well. “I-I-I’m fine, e-except I only ha-ave one arm and it’s burning a l-lot and it kind of really hurts… b-but Metal… you… y-your body... y-you’re...” Tears began to well up. “F-Flash..? W-what happened…?” 

“I’m sorry!” Flash cried out, beginning to sob heavily. “Fuck, I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I c-couldn’t get you in time a-and! N-now you’re both hurt a-and it’s all my fault! W-we shouldn’t have gone here…! Th-this was a bad idea...!” He sobbed and hugged Metal as tightly as he could. 

Metal weakly hugged him back. “W-what...? Flash, no… Flash, don't say that. Hey, h-hey… j-just tell us what happened. It’s okay--” 

“N-nooo, it’s not okay! It’s not okay at all!” Flash wailed. “The lasers got you! C-Crash lost an arm! You don’t have legs, Metal! You’re melting away…! You’re g-gonna die! Again…! It’s all my fault because I wasn’t quick enough… I-I don’t d-deserve to date a guy n-named Quick Man i-if I’m so goddamn s-slow!” 

“N-noooo…! This is MY fault b-because… be-because I got t-too scared and I didn’t even land right! A-and then Metal s-saved me and lost his legs!” Crash wailed beside him. 

“Wha…” Metal only then looked down at himself and his eyes widened. “O-oh shit, my body’s gone. No wonder I couldn’t feel my legs…” 

“H-how are you even not in pain right now…?” Crash said amongst his own tears. Metal’s core ached at the sight and he instinctively reached over to try to wipe away his partner’s tears. Crash scooted closer to allow Metal to do so, sniffling. 

“O-oh. My pain receptors are still turned off--” 

“W-what the hell, Metal, t-turn those back on. You’re n-not supposed to ever have them turned off…” Flash cried out amongst his tears.

 _“Hell no!_ Not while I’m like this! Maybe when we get back to the Doctor’s…” Metal exhaled shakily. “The both of you… c-come here. S-since I can’t really move.” Crash got even closer and Metal weakly rested a hand on his shoulder while still clinging to Flash. “...I’m going to be alright, you hear me? The Doctor put an emergency energy reserve in me when he recovered me months ago. He told me that it will keep my systems and core running for about three days before it runs out, s-so even if my systems try to shut down, they won’t.” His mask retracted and his expression turned melancholic. “I’m not going to die today. S-so p-please stop crying…” Tears welled up at the corners of his eyes. His voice began to waver. “C-Crash, it hurts my core so goddamn b-bad when I see you crying like this…” 

“I-I’m sorry… I-I can’t stop them...” Crash sniffled. He was trying to wipe his tears away, but having only one drill for a hand made that task quite hard. 

“W-when I get over there, to you, I’m drying ALL of your tears.” Metal said, before turning to Flash. “And you. D-don’t say that this was a bad idea at all… Yeah, w-we might’ve melted a bit, but if it means giving you your love back, and letting you and Quick be happy together, then I-I’d gladly get hit with fifty more lasers.” 

“I-I don’t want to think about that…” Flash cried. “The fifty lasers part…” 

Metal chortled, taking heavy breaths. “B-besides… w-what was that thing that Quick said…? 'Robot Masters keep fighting even when they're terrified?' That just means we can't give up now. We've come so far already. Plus, we’re done with the lasers, r-right? That means Quick’s not too far away… and we can finally leave this place, and we can f-finally reactivate Quick! I-I’ll be alright, and I know Crash is way tougher than I am, so we’ll be fine… Let’s go get your partner, okay? ...Also, pass me to Crash, please?” 

Flash sniffled and wiped at his own tears, before he smiled. “Y-yeah, you’re right... T-thank you, Metal. Quick’s station is absolute hell, but we did get through it. And no one’s I.C. chip is ruined either!” He carefully passed Metal over to Crash, and stood up slowly. “Thank you both f-for t-taking me here and going with me… I didn’t think we’d be going through the trap-layered path to Quick, but hell, this’ll be a story to tell him, heheh.” He hoisted Crash up to his feet. 

The three of them made their way through the final hallway, before Crash blasted open the doors that lead to Quick’s battle arena. The arena itself was oddly tall, and even stranger was that the floor was very uneven. Flash didn’t seem too phased though as he maneuvered his way over to the wall and pressed in a number sequence on a keypad. Almost immediately, two hidden doors opened up on either side of the room. One obviously to the teleporter room, but the other… 

“Metal, Crash, would you mind if I just went to Quick’s room for a few minutes?” Flash asked the two. Crash shook his head no and Metal just gave Flash a thumbs up. “T-thank you.” Flash began to walk down the hallway to his partner’s room and without thinking, Crash followed him in. 

Quick’s room was small, cramped, collecting dust, and red… everywhere. A red light faintly glowed and lit the room. In it, there was simply a small bed, a smaller desk, a chair, and covering the walls were… 

“Wow…” Crash murmured in a hushed tone. “Metal, look…” 

Covering almost all of the walls were framed illustrations, drawn masterfully and clearly by somebody with plenty of artistic skill. Most of the drawings were portraits and busts of Quick, but some of the smaller frames contained little doodles here and there of random things. Flash looked around the room, eyes becoming huge and his cheeks dusted a light pink. “Oh my god…” He breathed shakily, “He framed every single one of them…” He began to tremble slightly. He actually did it… he actually, truly meant it and he framed all of his drawings...

Metal looked all around the room wide-eyed, taking in the drawings as Crash looked around the desk. It was wiped completely clean of everything, other than a lone envelope in the center of the desk. On it… ‘Flash’. 

“Flash, there’s a letter here for you.” Crash called out. Flash was almost instantly at his side and he picked up the envelope. He immediately recognized Quick’s handwriting. It was completely unopened, and looks like it’s been so for five years. Flash’s fingers shook. 

He took a deep breath and carefully opened it, and unfolded the paper within it. A letter was written in ink on it. He read it slowly. 

_June 9th/10th?, 200X._

_Hey Flash,_

_If you’re reading this right now, then. . ._

_I’m sorry I didn’t make it._

_I tried my hardest to win, but I guess that wasn’t enough. I feel really bad about it. I feel like I’ve let you down. Like I’ve let everybody down. I feel like a liar because I said we were going to make it through this, and now. . . ? Megaman’s going to kill us again. I hope you can forgive me for this._

_I’m writing this right now as Dr. Wily’s fixing the rest of our brothers. He’s screaming about an escape plan, so I guess he’s just gonna leave us for dirt, huh? I figured as much. . . :(_

_But if you’re reading this right now, then hope isn’t completely lost, right?_

_I'm gonna guess that my body would be somewhere in one of the nearby rooms. I’m really hoping with all of my might that Megaman will take me out with the Time Stopper. Because if he figures out that my other weakness is the Crash Bomber, then my I.C. chip might get completely destroyed. My body can’t handle those explosions. I’m hoping so hard. Please. I want to see you again. Please. . ._

Flash took a deep breath and tried hard to calm himself. His circuits were racing and his core was aching hard and he couldn’t calm himself. His hands were trembling hard. Metal and Crash’s eyes were focused on the letter, both wide-eyed. He continued reading. 

_I’m so sorry about this, Flash. I’m so, so sorry. . . I don’t want to say goodbye to you. But I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. I don’t want to be destroyed. I just want to be with you one more time. I love you so much. I love you more than anything else I can think of. I will always cherish you, forever and always. I always have. If you need proof, check inside the envelope._

_I really hope we can meet again, Flash. If we can’t, then we can still be together. It’ll just take a much longer time for it to happen, but in the meantime, I’ll be somewhere out there, protecti nd watc_

_‘m sorr_

_Sor_

_Love, Qui_

The rest of the handwriting was smudged and blurred out by small, dried out stains of optic cleaner. 

Newer, wet drips of optic cleaner fell onto the letter, smudging more of the ink. Crash looked up to find Flash trembling hard and breathing heavily, as tears flowed down his cheeks. His hands were shaking so much… He stared at the paper, rereading what Quick wrote, before shakily reaching for the envelope. He slowly put the paper down. Metal and Crash didn’t dare say a thing. 

Flash held his other hand out as he turned the envelope upside down and shook it. Something shiny and small fell out of it. Flash squinted through his tears to see what it was, and then dropped the envelope in shock when he saw what it was. In his robotic palm lay a small ring, with a red gemstone adorning it. 

His body froze, and yet his core felt as close to exploding as it’s ever felt. It welled up with so many different emotions at once, it only made Flash blush red and cry harder. “Q-Quick…” He barely squeaked out, his voice sounding awfully weak. His brothers stared at the piece of jewelry with such huge eyes, before looking at Flash. 

He slowly and shakily put the ring on his ring finger and looked at it more. “Quick…” He cried, sniffling. It’s so beautiful, he thought. “Quiiick…” He cried more, before suddenly backing away from the desk and exiting out of Quick’s room. He then broke into a run. “Quiiick! Quiiick!” He cried out, making a beeline right for the teleporter room. 

Metal pointed after Flash and barked out, “Go go go! Holy shit!” Crash booked it out of Quick’s room and towards the teleporter room, trying his best to hold onto Metal. They followed Flash into the teleporter room, and looked around wildly for Quick, when they spotted him at the same time as Flash. 

The fallen Robot Master laid sprawled out on the ground, with his eyes closed and a small smile on his face. He was perfectly intact. “O-oh thank f-fuck!” Flash stuttered, before he slid onto his knees next to Quick and picked up his lifeless body and hugged him tighter than he’s ever hugged anyone before. He let out a rapid-fire string of Quick’s name amongst heavy and ugly sobbing. Crash walked over to Flash and knelt down next to him, quickly moving his drill around Flash and hugging him while sandwiching Metal in between himself, Flash, and Quick. “Oh my godddd…!” Flash wailed against Quick’s body. 

“I knowwwww…!” Crash said, smiling widely and nuzzling against Flash. “GOD, I’m so happy for you!” 

Metal groaned into the hug pile, before noticing something below him and his lack of a lower half. He reached out for Quick’s left arm and lifted it up, before sharply inhaling in surprise. “Oh shit…!” He said, before lifting his arm higher. “Guys, guys! Look at his hand!” 

On Quick Man’s left hand was a small ring adorned with a blue gemstone on his ring finger. Crash and Flash’s eyes went huge again. “O-oh my god!” Flash wailed and sobbed, “I-I l-love him so much!” Crash and Flash hugged everyone even harder, with Metal right in the middle of it.

“Christ-!” Metal choked out. “Congrats, Flash, but--!! C-can we not crush the Robot M-Master that’s only a half of himself right now?!” 

“OH MY GOSH, WE NEED TO GET BACK TO THE LAB!” Crash suddenly shouted in excitement. “WE NEED TO TELL EVERYBODY!!” 

“You’re right! Let’s leave right now!” Flash announced, shooting up to his feet and hoisting Quick over his shoulder. Crash lost his grip on Flash and Metal both and the cutter robot fell to the floor. 

“Of course…” Metal sighed, before reaching for Crash and grabbing onto him again. 

“Sorry, sorry!” Crash said, letting Metal climb onto him. 

Unbeknownst to the three Robot Masters, the race towards the elevator that lead to the back entrance and their car had them running faster than they ever did that entire day, and probably would have made Quick Man very happy and proud of all of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oil Man confirmed a ~cool guy~ hahahahaha XD 
> 
> How did you guys like that chapter? I really hope you enjoyed it! Please go forth and tell me ALL of your thoughts, I'm really curious to see what you guys think! :D 
> 
> Chapter 8 is going to be very fun. Until next time, peeps! :D


	8. The Quick and The Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE  
> Wow, I'm really happy at all the amazing comments and kindness this fic has gotten! Especially last chapter! Everybody who's contacted me, I'd like to personally thank you guys for such sweet and heartfelt messages you've given me. It actually kinda made me want to immediately write Chapter 8?? ahhahahahahhaa XDDD 
> 
> (OHGOD SCHOOL IS STARTING AGAIN I'M GONNA TRY TO GET CHAPTER 9 DONE AT AN APPROPRIATE TIME) 
> 
> One more thing: Let us play a game called "spot all the references from The Megas" ;D

The sun sets. Time flies as if it has somewhere to be. A mishap, a long drive, a badly-parked car in a driveway, and only the near future and sleeping that they look forward to. 

Finally, at long last… 

“DR. LIGHT!!” A chorus of Robot Masters designed for world domination called out, as the time-freezing one kicked the front door open. In his arms, the inactive body of the love of his life. Moments later, his brother dragged himself to the temporal robot and hovered behind him. Around his shoulders, a barely breathing chunk of a Robot Master that was focusing all of his willpower to stay awake and conscious weakly clung to him. Finally, after the long road trips to and from, and surviving the hell that was Quick’s station, they’ve finally made it. They’ve reached what was soon beginning to become very familiar to them. Perhaps, even a ‘second home’, but that was pushing it. 

The scientist in question was with his two robotic children, sitting together and watching yet another sports competition. He turned to look at the intrusive robots and his eyes widened in surprise. He took the time to slowly stand up, before coughing heavily and pulling out his handkerchief. Confounded illnesses! His daughter rose and rubbed at his back before asking, “Dr. Light, are you okay? Do you need water?” 

Dr. Light shook his head no, before turning around and facing the Robot Masters. “W-welcome back,” more coughing, “You were gone for a while! I was about to begin to grow worried for a moment...” Light walked up to Flash first, and Roll and Rock were almost immediately on either side of him. His eyes looked between the four of them and examined them, before they widened upon seeing Crash’s lack of an arm… and Metal’s lack of a lower half completely. “Goodness, what happened to you two…?!” He asked. 

Metal proceeded to then mumble incoherently into Crash’s audio receptor. Crash’s eyes narrowed as he listened, before something clicked within his CPU and he nodded in understanding. “Metal says ‘What do you think?’” He parroted louder for his barely conscious partner. 

Roll stared at Metal with huge eyes. “Oh gosh… How did that even happen to you? How are you still conscious?! Should I go get an E-tank o-or water or anything?” She stuttered nervously. 

Rock’s eyes flitted back and forth between Metal’s and Quick’s bodies, before a realization clicked in him and said eyes went huge as well. “Oh no… you got hit with Quick Man’s lasers, didn’t you?!” He said, covering his mouth. 

Metal mumbled something into Crash’s receptor again. Crash’s mouth contorted upwards into a smile and he snickered at his words. “Metal says ‘Good job! Now are you going to fix us or maybe we should stand around more and figure out what 2 plus 2 is next.’” 

Flash coughed lightly. “Er, that is to say, can you please repair us, Doctor? And repair Quick as well?” He took a step forward, smiling brightly. 

Rock and Roll looked at each other, and then at the temporal Robot Master. “Flash Man, don’t you know what time it is--” Rock began. 

Crash was preparing right then to start to use a special ‘hurt’ version of his puppy-eyed look on Rock, but Flash cut in immediately.

“I always know what time it is,” Flash replied, still smiling. “I know it’s 10:57pm. But this is rather urgent.” He explained, looking at Rock. “If your brothers were as messed up as us right now, wouldn’t you want them fixed as soon as possible, Megaman?” He got closer to Rock’s face. “We’re exhausted and injured.” He got closer. “I thought you didn’t want robots to suffer, Megaman.” He got even closer and Rock started to shift uncomfortably. “Quick means everything to me. If you don’t fix him up…” Flash’s face turned very menacing. “...and fix up my dying brothers, too…” His face was inches away from Megaman’s and he bared his very sharp teeth. “...I will throw you into a spike pit.” He said so quietly. Rock trembled, staring into Flash’s scarred face. 

“O-okay, okay! I get it!” Rock stuttered. He turned to his creator and father. “D-Dr. Light, would you able to work on them at this hour? It isn’t t-too late at night, is it? I-I’ll help you as much as I--” 

He stopped his sentence when he saw Crash Man giving Dr. Light those puppy eyes he just loves to use to get what he wants, and Dr. Light and Roll succumbing to the cuteness. “Pleeeeeaaaaseeee?” He whined. Metal then slowly turned and looked at the sickly doctor. 

He raised his voice to an audible volume and spoke in a breathy, shaky voice. “Doctor, it’s been 2 and a half days. My energy reserve’s almost run out… I’m kind of just dying here. Could you please work on me?” 

Dr. Light shook his head. “W-why, of course, without a doubt! Regardless of who a robot aligns themself to, I am always willing to fix a robot whenever they so need it. Nobody deserves to be denied a repairing. It’s only a matter of whether the robot in question wishes to be fixed or not.” 

“Please fix me.” Metal croaked, before leaning his face into the crook of Crash’s neck again. 

“A-and me, too!” Crash piped in. 

“And Quick as well.” Flash added.

“Alright, alright, very well then,” Dr. Light smiled warmly and said jovially, “Everybody, follow me into the lab. Rock, let’s get to work right away so that we all can sleep at an appropriate hour tonight.” 

“Sleep…” Flash murmured quietly. Roll looked over at Flash and only then she realized just how tired and sleep-deprived the three Robot Masters looked. She then immediately headed upstairs to go grab some pillows and blankets for the three.

~~~~~

Darkness. Absolutely darkness encompassed him. But not silence. He soon began to hear a voice fading in, getting louder and clearer. “...ash… … … ...sh… …. ...Flas… …”

He tried to focus in and listen. 

“Flash! Flaaaaash….!” 

“...” The temporal Robot Master registered his own name and very slowly peeked his eyes open. Light flooded into his vision and he rubbed at his eyes before yawning. He took a look around to find himself in Dr. Light’s lab once again. “...wha…” He looked down at himself to find a blanket on his body and he felt a pillow behind his head. In front of him, Roll and Crash were both peering curiously and excitedly at him. 

“Hi Flash!” Crash chirped happily at him. “Good afternoon!”

“Afterno--?” Flash was about to repeat, before his internal clocks suddenly screamed at him. His eyes widened and he gasped. “It’s 1:17pm?! I slept that long?! ...N-Nobody woke me up?” 

“W-well, we were trying to…” Roll interjected, smiling sheepishly. “You were in a heavy sleep. Were you dreaming, too? Crash told me he had a dream, and aaahh, I’m so jealous! That’s so cool!” Roll gushed. “I wish I could have dreams!” 

“I would’ve tried to wake you up, but I can’t really move…” Metal’s voice sounded from somewhere above him. Only then Flash realized that he was leaning against the operating table that Metal was laid against. He tried hard to remember last night’s events, but it was all a hazy blur. He… fell asleep down here, then? He flushed lightly in embarrassment. Just how tired was he…? 

“I, uhh… I didn’t have any dreams.” Flash said. 

Roll then reached behind herself and pulled out a cup filled with water. She passed it to him. “Here, Crash also told me you saved both him and Metal and then cried a lot. You must be thirsty.” 

The blue Wilybot drank the water slowly. He cleared his throat, before speaking quietly. “Thank you. B-but honestly, I… I-I could’ve done much better… My f-family didn’t have to lose parts of their bodies if I was just a little faster to react…” His expression turned melancholic and full of regret, but the cleaning robot was having none of that today. 

“That’s nonsense!” Roll interjected. “It’s okay if it wasn’t a perfect run! Honestly, wouldn’t the only robot capable of going through that stage with no issues would be Quick Man himself, since it was his stage? What mattered was that you tried your best, Flash. You protected them and made sure that all three of you got out of there alive, right? Even if Metal and Crash lost their body parts, they wouldn’t be upset at you for it, at least I don’t think so. You were doing all that you could, right? You must’ve done a good job then.” 

Flash stared at Roll with a surprised look on his face, taking in and processing every word she said. Right beside her, Crash had such a wide, warm smile on his face and starry eyes while nodding his head vigorously in agreement. Above Flash, all they could see of Metal was his wired-up arm lifting into the air and giving Roll a thumbs up. Elsewhere in the lab, Dr. Light was beaming with fatherly pride. Flash was unresponsive for a moment, before his mouth suddenly twitched upwards into a small, soft smile. He looked down at the cup of water he was holding and peered into the reflection. “Thank you, Roll. Y-you’re completely right. I-I did my best and w-we came out okay. Your words are very kind and sweet. Thank you for that.” 

“Anytime! You can always go to me if you ever need motivating! Sometimes I feel less like a cleaning robot and more like a cheerleading robot, haha~” Roll joked, getting up slowly and then helping Crash up. Flash followed suit when he suddenly noticed. 

“Hey Crash, that’s a nice new arm you got,” Flash said, smiling. Crash’s face brightened even more so. 

“I know, right?! I had this when I woke up and it’s so shiny and new and I love my new arm! Even if I still don’t have hands at the ends of them.” He beamed, lifting up his newly replaced right arm for emphasis. He then spun the drill and was enamored by how it looked the same to him, but it just felt so fresh and new. “God, I wanna blow something up.” He breathed excitedly. 

“Please, not around me, at least.” Flash said, lifting his hands in surrender. 

“Or me, either.” Metal called out from behind them. Flash turned around and finally laid eyes on his ‘brother’, and his eyes widened, looking up and down Metal’s… err, his upper half of his body that rested against the operating table. Many thick, large wires and cables were carefully inserted into where his body was erased by the laser. Smaller wires were connected to his arms and neck. A few of the wires and his chest light would glow every now and then. 

“Yeah, I’m still a work in progress.” Metal said, before chuckling. “But I surprisingly feel way better than I did earlier. Dr. Light, he…” Metal chuckled more. “...he told me that he didn’t have enough parts here to rebuild my legs and pelvis, so apparently, there’s more robots coming over later to give him the materials. And then I punned at him and he got mad, so that’s why he’s working on Quick right now instead of me--” 

“We can still hear you, you know!” Rock called over from the other side of the lab, far away. “And that’s not the reason why we’re working on Quick Man first!” 

Flash looked over at Quick in the distance and turned back to Metal. “...I’m gonna be right back, okay? I need to tell the Doctor something.” He set the cup down on Metal’s table before jogging across the lab over to Dr. Light and Rock. His core warmed up at the sight of Quick looking so peaceful and repaired. It’s almost time, he thought to himself giddily. He could feel his circuits racing faster and faster at the idea of Quick waking up. We’re so close… Flash coughed lightly before getting a little closer to Dr. Light. “Doctor, are you almost finished with him?” He asked quietly. 

“We will probably be done with him within the next ten or so minutes. This will only be a jiffy, in truth.” Light said contently to himself, working carefully on the back of Quick’s head. 

“Don’t you mean a _quickie?”_ Metal called out from across the lab. Distant sounds of drills loudly spinning happened, followed up by Metal screaming. And then the sounds of Roll jumping on Crash Man, and then Crash screaming. Soon, everybody in that corner of the lab was screaming. 

Flash ignored the chaos in the background and stared at Quick, before clearing his throat. “Err… uhm… it’s not too late… possibly, if I could make a request with him, i-is it?” He stuttered nervously. 

Dr. Light glanced at him for a moment before returning on working on Quick. “Oh, what kind of request?” He asked, smiling behind his mask. Working on robots of any kind always put Dr. Light in a better mood, no matter what his condition was. 

Flash looked at Quick’s peaceful face, and said, “C-could you replace his eyes, please?” 

Dr. Light and Rock gave him an odd look. “Why his eyes? We didn’t find anything wrong with them.” Rock asked. 

Flash crossed his arms and huffed, before he scowled. “It’s not that. It’s just another case of Dr. Wily being illogical with his design choices. Quick told me he can reach high speeds very quickly, but his eyes ‘can’t keep up’. He needs better eyes or else he can’t see when he runs. Does that make sense?” 

Rock narrowed his eyes, processing his words, before a realization dawned on him. “Oh. OH. Ohhhhh… is that why he kept… crashing into walls… when I fought him?” 

“...Yes. And crashing into walls at high speeds is not good for him. His design’s very… light.” Flash said, gently touching Quick’s arm. It was true; he was extremely lightweight, and his limbs were very skinny compared to himself and his brethren. 

“I’m certain we have plenty of eye replacements in the back that we can modify and upgrade,” Dr. Light mused, before glancing at Flash again. “Is there anything else you’d like to request for him?” 

Flash went quiet as his face began to blush lightly. “Could you keep his eyes that nice shade of sky blue he has…?” 

Light smiled warmly. “Of course we can.” He finished making a few adjustments to the back of his head before calmly setting his head down. “Alright Rock, shall we go over the list again?” 

Rock nodded warmly. “Yes, Doctor! We safely checked his I.C. chip, modified his coding conventions, implemented the energy reserve in him, upgraded his armor, legs, and internal systems, repaired his injuries, and now we just need to give him new eyes and rebalance his internal energy flow. Which reminds me. Flash Man, why does your Time Stopper completely drain his energy and throw off his equilibrium? Do you know why? I just think that’s kind of a strange effect for a time-stopping device.” 

Flash sighed and frowned. “I… I don’t know. None of my brethren are supposed to be weak to my weapon. Maybe it’s a bug or a glitch maybe…? Could you check for that?” 

Rock frowned. “We did already… we didn’t find anything wrong with his programming. And we just repaired all of his damaged parts, too...” 

The blue Wilybot looked down at his partner and his thumb stroked said partner’s arm. “Hmm. ...It’s okay if you can’t figure it out right now.” He smiled gently. “Quick is smart and strong. He always can figure out ways around his weaknesses. He’ll be okay.” 

“If you really believe so, then I trust your judgement.” Dr. Light said, smiling. He slowly got up and coughed a bit into his mask. “Rock, I’m going to go look through my best pairs of optics. Could you go get a pod for Quick Man here so we can rebalance his energy flow?” 

“Of course, Dr. Light!” And there goes Megaman. Flash soon made his way back over to the others, for he didn’t want to watch Quick’s eyes get removed. Metal was talking to Roll and Crash about the novel he’s been reading. 

“...And I’m just really frustrated that she’s just not giving him a chance. I JUST KNOW that Arthur’s going to doublecross her. He’s too perfect. He’s up to something, _I can feel it.”_ Metal said. Roll nodded her head in agreement. 

“And Tristen’s just pure and trying his best and what? Just because he’s a vampire, she can’t trust him? That’s stupid. Somebody oughta put some sense into this girl and let her know when a good, decent person comes into her life.” Roll huffed and pouted. This protagonist made her want to rip her synthetic hair out sometimes.

“Well, Chapter 8 tries to do that, hehe~” Metal smirked. 

“What, really?! I’ve gotta catch up tonight! ...I-I’m still on Chapter 5...” Roll looked down sheepishly. 

“LET ME TELL YOU, CHAPTER 7 IS AN ADVENTURE,” Metal breathed excitedly. Meanwhile, Crash tried to look interested, but honestly, he couldn’t really care less about written stories. He’s tried a few times years ago to try to get into books and reading, but every time, he always just ends up getting frustrated at his inability to turn to the next page. Flash smiled at the scene and sat down next to Crash on Metal’s operating table. 

“Heya, welcome back to the Cool Table!” Crash chirped to the temporal robot. “So what’s the news on Quick?” 

Flash grinned excitedly. “They just need to fix his eyes and put him in a pod and then he’ll be ready!” 

Metal’s eyes flashed in recognition, before a small grin began to creep onto his face. “Did I just hear the word _pod?_ A _pod,_ you say?” 

Flash stared at Metal for a few seconds before his eyes widened suddenly. “Metal, don’t you even…” 

“Man, _wood_ you…” 

“METAL, I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING.” Flash yelled, as his mouth betrayed him yet again and he was smiling widely. Crash got what Metal was referencing then and he began to snicker and giggle despite his puns. 

_“...beLEAF_ that? I can barely _contain_ the memories!” Metal said, before breaking out into a giggle fit against the table. Crash exploded into guffaws and Flash was covering his mouth to try to suppress his laughter. Roll just tilted her head and looked at them confused. Rock soon made his way over as well. 

“What’s so funny about pods?” Roll asked curiously. 

“Besides how many broken ones we have…” Rock murmured. _Thanks, Bass…_

Metal clutched his chest and laughed loudly, before he wiped a tear away from his eye and tried his best to calm down. “OKAY, O-O-OKAY, hahaha o-okay, s-so… we have a story about Wood Man and PODS.” He took a few deep breaths and then giggled again. “Okay, okay. So years ago, maybe like 3 months before we fought you, we had this long sparring day a-and everybody got to fight each other. We were all tired as shit at the end of the day and Dr. Wily told us to rest, sleep, recharge in a pod, whatever. And of course, Wood goes to the pods. We all had different pods, but it was hard to tell them apart. He goes in Heat Man’s by accident and then he gets his wooden ass stuck in the pod.” He began to laugh again. “H-h-he starts calling for help… ahahahAHAHAHA I’M SORRY I CAN’T CONTINUE AHAHAHA--” 

Flash picked it up from there, grinning. “He starts yelling and screaming about his ass… Heat and Bubble and I are the first to go to him and w-we just see him… just STUCK in the pod. Heat jumps on him and starts pulling at his arm and I’m pulling his other arm too. And then Heat says ‘Pull back! Pull back!’ and Wood does, b-but he’s much stronger than Heat is and he pulls his whole body in and HE GETS STUCK IN THE POD, TOO. He starts yelling and kicking and Bubble starts climbing on him and he g-gets his legs stuck in the pod! And then Quick shows up and he just sees Heat’s legs kicking and Bubble being straddled by Wood and I’m standing on Bubble’s head and Wood’s chest trying to pull them all out and and we’re all yelling and then Quick just yells ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON’ and-- a-and-- PPFFFTAHAHAHAHA!” Flash couldn’t control himself and began laughing, too.

Crash was having a giggle fit and Metal couldn’t control his laughter. Rock’s mouth was contorting while Roll was laughing. Metal eventually calmed himself and picked it up from there. 

“SO QUICK goes and starts pulling Wood’s legs and he starts calling for help because Wood is just too damn big and heavy AND THEN AIR MAN COMES IN and aHAHAHAHA OH MY SHIT Air gets the brilliant idea to try to suck us all out with his fan right? HE DOES THAT, A-AND THE LEAVES-- OH MY GOD THE LEAVES COME OUT OF WOOD MAN AND GO IN HIS FAN-- H-h-h-he’s just on the ground! The leaves everywhere! O-oh shit poor Air ahahaha! Then I come in, see ALL of this, and Quick yells at me to phone Dr. Wily for help. I pick up the phone, and I JUST YELL ‘DR. WILY HELP US PLEASE’ and h-he starts yelling why at me and I yell back at him ‘WE’RE ALL STUCK IN A DAMN POD WITH WOOD MAN’S ASS AND AIR IS SUFFERING.’ Then I climb on top of Wood and t-try to pull his other arm with Flash and e-everybody’s yelling and of course… OF COURSE, MY FEET SLIP AND NOW I’M STUCK IN THE DAMN POD, TOO. I start struggling and wriggling and I’m only getting myself further stuck AND AHAHAHAHAA--” Metal points at Crash. “A-A-AND THEN CRASH SHOWS UP WITH DR. WILY.” 

Crash was laughing and trying to clutch his robotic stomach. Everybody at this point was laughing hard. “O-OH GOD, S-SO DR. WILY TELLS ME TO DO SOMETHING AND HELP THEM AND AHAHAHAHEHEEHEHEEHEEHEE! I-I DON’T REALLY KNOW WHAT TO DO BECAUSE I HAVE DRILLS FOR HANDS, RIGHT? SO I HOLD THEM OUT FOR WOOD TO PULL ON THEM. AHAHAHAHAHAA! HE… H-HE… HE PULLS THE CRASH BOMBERS OUT OF MY ARMS. EVERYBODY STARTS SCREAMING A-AND--” He threw his arms in the air and made a big explosion noise excitedly. “The whole room blows up! Everybody is still stuck in the pod, and then Dr. Wily had to disassemble the pod, and a-after that, w-we weren’t a-allowed to go in pods ever again ahahahahahaAHAHAHAHA!” 

At that point, everybody was laughing hard. Flash had to wipe tears from his eyes. “I-If there’s one thing we all could agree on back then,” Flash began, “it’s that we all thought the pod story will always be funny.” 

“That’s awful and hilarious!” Rock said, grinning and laughing. 

“It really is…” Metal sighed happily at the funny memories. Dr. Light then joined them and cleared his throat, getting all of their attention. 

“Metal Man, Crash Man, Flash Man? Quick Man is ready to be reactivated. Are you all read--” Before Dr. Light could finish his sentence, Flash suddenly disappeared? He turned around to find Flash sparkling, almost vibrating in place, and staring down at the pod that Quick Man laid peacefully in, before he faced the kind doctor and mouthed ‘I’m ready’ at him. Crash grinned and happily bounded over to Flash. Metal tried to get up and follow him, but many wires and cables tugged him back down. Right. Of course, he thought to himself. 

Dr. Light smiled to himself before he slowly made his way over to one of the nearby computers and sat down. Rock and Roll followed him and hovered nearby. Crash took a few steps back instinctively, but Flash remained at the pod’s side, gazing down at his partner. “Flash? You gonna move back or you wanna get zapped?” Crash called out. 

“He’s in a pod.” Flash retorted. “Also, I want to be the first one he sees when he wakes up.” His hands trembled lightly against the pod’s hard plexiglass. It’s time, it’s finally time, he thought to himself. He doesn’t have to count the seconds anymore… Quick… His core fluttered in anticipation and sparks surged through his body in excitement. 

Dr. Light nodded and type in the strings of commands on the command prompt. A few familiar strings of coding run up the computer screen, and Crash and Roll looked between the screen and the pod. The pod itself was mostly transparent… they waited eagerly for Quick… Flash could barely calm his core down. 

… 

… 

...Quick’s body sparked violently within the unbreakable pod and jolted, before the electricity died down, and became still again. Flash blinked and stared at Quick for a minute. Nothing happened. He was about to look back up at Dr. Light and ask if it worked when Quick Man’s eyes suddenly snapped open. 

The speedy Robot Master gasped and wildly looked around, pressing his hands against the pod’s barrier. His breathing was quick and unsteady, before he blinked a few times and calmed down. _This… this isn’t the teleporter room. I’m not fighting right now._ He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, before opening his eyes again. The first thing he saw was… was… 

Quick Man’s lips barely parted open and his voice was so quiet, so unused for such a long time. He spoke for the first time in five years. “...Flash…?” He almost whispered. Above him, Flash Man looked down at him, his mouth curving up into a sweet but sad smile. Flash moved his trembling hands up to where Quick’s were and pressed softly against the border that was keeping the two of them apart. 

“Hey Quick.” Flash murmured softly. “I missed you.” 

Quick’s mouth curved up into a soft, gentle smile. “...Sorry I was late, haha… Are we in Robot Heaven finally?” He spoke quietly. His core welled with a strong, heavy emotion. Something… relieving. Something happy and sweet and fluttery that made him want to get so much closer to his partner than he was. He wanted to lace and intertwine his metallic fingers in Flash’s hands but this damn pod was in the way. _Wait. I’m in a pod. Where the hell am I?_

“Not exactly, but if we’re together, then it’s close enough, right?” Flash mused, before chuckling. Quick’s core warmed up and his circuits raced at the sound of his beautiful, deep voice. 

Quick’s smile widened so much more. “Absolutely.” He then looked around more. Technology was everywhere. Large and small computer monitors, operating tables, Dr. Light was getting closer to him… Wait. Dr. Light? Just behind him, he saw… “Oh wait, nevermind. Megaman’s here. This isn’t Robot Heaven at all.” His smile dropped while Flash just laughed above him. 

“Wow, that’s the thanks I get for helping repair you?” Rock huffed, scowling. 

“Oh, I’ll give you a thanks alright. It’s called my boomerangs to your face.” Quick snapped at him, before he noticed something falling onto the plexiglass separating him from everyone else. He looked up and his eyes widened huge when he found Flash’s beautiful green eyes welling up with tears and slowly dripping onto the pod between them. 

“Quick…. Q-Quiiick… I missed you so much,” Flash sniffled, smiling softly. “I missed you so, so much…” 

Quick’s wires twisted at the sight and his fingertips quivered. “Flash… aw, Flashy, don’t cry…” He said. “I-I’m right here… I’m here now and-- somebody get me out of here,” he barked, “Someone get me out of this damn pod or so help me, I will break it.” 

Dr. Light hastily walked back and pushed a button on his keyboard, causing the pod to split down the middle and open with a hiss of cool air. Once fully opened, in the blink of an eye, Quick was immediately on Flash. Their lips locked passionately together and it took Flash a second to register what happened before he returned the kiss eagerly. He wrapped his arms around Quick and hugged him so tightly and close to his body. Quick hugged him back with trembling hands. Flash whimpered into the kiss as tears flowed down his cheeks, which Quick tried his best to wipe away. They broke from the kiss, panting, only for Quick to lean his forehead against Flash’s, making an audible clanking sound of shiny metal on shiny metal. “Flashy… sweetheart… I’m here. We’re here. I-I’m so goddamn happy… We’ve finally made it, Flash. We did it.” He breathed softly. Flash’s eyes widened. Where has he heard that before…? 

“Quick…” Flash breathed, peering into those beautiful blue eyes of his. He could get lost in them.

Nothing in the world mattered to them in that very moment as they slowly leaned forward and kissed again, gently locking lips and needily pressing into each other. To the both of them, this moment will last forever. Quick threw his arms over Flash’s shoulders while Flash wrapped his around Quick’s waist, the two kissing so intensely and so full of want, as if they were making up for the years that had gone by separated. They softly parted from each other and broke the kiss so Flash could breathe before going back in, again and again. Quick smooched his face all over, making Flash blush harder and giggle at the sensation. But then Quick slowed down and stopped, staring at Flash’s face. His sky blue eyes focused in between the blue robot’s eyes and a hand came up to caress his jaw. “Flash,” he breathed, “Who did this to you…? Who gave you this scar?” 

Flash panted heavily and his eyelids drooped. “I’ll tell you in a second. Just kiss me. I need you.” With no objections, Quick was on him again, kissing him needily and passionately. Flash pulled Quick’s body closer to his own and soon Quick tugged harder on Flash in their kiss, trying to bring him into the pod. Flash complied and climbed on top of him before Quick fell onto his back again. Flash was immediately on him, pinning his arms down and kissing his face, before traveling down to kiss his neck. Quick’s breathing hitched in excitement and he wrapped his long legs around Flash’s body. “Quick…” Flash purred into his synthetic skin, sending electric chills all throughout the red Robot Master’s body. 

“Fla-a-ash…” Quick laughed breathily, blushing hard. He trembled underneath him and began to slowly move his pelvis up and grind against him. God, Flash’s lips felt SO good against his skin and metal… Oh god, was that his tongue on his neck? “Oh shit… Flash…~” He cooed, smiling widely. 

… 

Crash stared at the whole scene with huge eyes, and a burning red face. Roll put her hands in front of Crash’s eyes, and Crash put a drill in front of Roll’s eyes. Roll’s face was burning even redder. Dr. Light was faintly blushing and looking away from the scene, trying to mouth to Roll, ‘Do something.’ 

Rock was in a fetal position on the floor, remembering when he walked in on Metal and Crash getting dangerously close to 3rd base. “Oh god, it’s happening again,” He muttered to himself in horror, “Quick Man and Flash Man are going to do it in my house…” 

Metal stared at the two from afar with a red face and wide red eyes. He could barely move, let alone look away. He was a little scared to where this was going to go in the next five minutes. And something that scared him more was that his curious side didn’t want him to look away either. 

Roll thankfully snapped into action and wielded her broom. “H-hey!” She began smacking Flash’s back with the broom. “No robot copulation allowed in this house! Come on, save that for your own home!” With enough broom smacks, Flash soon complied and broke his lips away from Quick’s body and sat back up. 

“Alright, alright, I get it…” Flash breathed, his face having turned pink and beginning to sweat. “S-sorry, we were a little excited to see each other, haha~” He looked down at Quick and his core swelled and circulated with so much warmth and happiness and relief. Quick looked up at Flash with such a warm smile and cheeks tinted red, his body racing and his core full of want and love. Flash’s eyes darted over to Roll, who lifted up her broom threateningly. He weighed the options within his mind. Eventually, he decided ‘fuck it’ and he quickly mumbled, “Okay, one last moment together~” As he dived down and smooched Quick’s wonderful, soft lips for a second before getting up and off of the pod and table. Before Roll could hit him again, more importantly. 

Quick sat up and stretched his joints, and then hopped out of the pod and stood up. Compared to everyone else, Quick Man the tallest robot in the room by far. He looked around… and suddenly laid eyes on the still-blushing Crash Man. “Oh,” He muttered, turning as red as his body. “H-heya Crashy! ‘Sorry that you had to see that… again.” He chirped, before grinning at Flash. “Boy, does THIS bring back memories, hahahaha~” 

“Quick, nooooo, I don’t want to remember that,” Flash whined, bringing his hands to his face as the realization hit him that this time, it wasn’t just Crash Man. Now EVERYBODY’S watched him and Quick get frisky… His face burned red. 

“I just think it’s really funny that it’s the second time now.” Quick snickered. 

“It’s not funny! We had to give him _the talk_ that day!” Flash said, blushing behind his hands. 

“It’s okay! I remembered what you taught me and used it well, if I do say so myself.” Crash reassured Flash, grinning and winking. Quick raised an eyebrow. 

“Ohoho really now? Does this mean our little Crashy found a partner for himself? WAIT, wait! Before you tell me the good news though,” In the blink of an eye, Quick had ran into Crash and picked up the drillbot off of his feet. “CRASH! God, it’s so freaking good to see you again!” He spun Crash around in a circle and the orange Wilybot giggled and hugged Quick. 

“I know! I missed you, Quick!” Crash said happily, as Quick pulled him close and Crash nuzzled against him. 

“Oh, how many of us are here?!” Quick breathed excitedly. “Is the whole squad here?! Also, what are we doing here in Dr. Light’s lab anyways? I have a lot to be filled in on, don’t I? O-okay, first, how far in the future are we? Because I think that since we’re here in Light’s lab and I don’t remember anything between my fight and right now, Dr. Wily must’ve been an ass and left us around like trash, didn’t he?” 

“Wow, that’s… an oddly accurate guess.” Rock said, impressed and no longer suffering on the floor. 

“You’re cutting me short, Megaman. I’m smarter than I look.” Quick said, smirking. He put Crash back down on his feet and he tapped Quick with his drill. 

“Quick! Quick! It’s only you, me, Flash, and Metal right now. B-but we’re gonna get everybody else eventually!” Crash said, grinning. Quick’s eyes widened. 

“Oh shit, Metal Blades is here?” Quick said in surprise. “I actually get to TALK to him for once?! Where is he?!” He grabbed Crash’s drill and Crash bounded across the lab with Quick in tow, over to the operating table where Metal laid motionlessly for the most part. 

“Hiya Metal! Look who I’ve got with me--” 

“JESUS, METAL BLADES, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR BODY?” Quick said, eyes widening huge and looking up and down Metal’s upper half and all the wires that were inserted into him. 

Metal looked up at him. “Your damn station happened, that’s what. Why’d you lock the back door?” 

Quick blinked at him, trying to process what he meant, before he suddenly inhaled and held his breath at the realization. “Oh god, the lasers were never turned off…” He muttered to himself. “Aw shit, I’m real sorry, Metal Blades. I-I shoulda unlocked the back door, b-but I wasn’t really thinking straight that day and now I feel dumb because nobody even uses that back door except for me and Flash and--” 

“It’s fine. I’m not mad at you. Weren’t we all freaking out that day? Also, c’mere, I missed your face, haha.” He smirked and held his arms out to the speedy Robot Master. Quick hesitated, looking at the wires and cables connected to Metal. “Hey, hey, you won’t ruin the wires. I’ll be fine.” 

Quick smirked back and carefully leaned down and embraced Metal. Crash soon joined in, throwing himself on top of Quick and Metal, making the both of them wheeze. But despite their situation and their conditions, they all were happy. It felt so good to be reunited with another ‘brother’ in their little makeshift family. Flash was by Quick’s side by the time they started letting go of each other. “Wow, I never thought in all my years I’d ever receive a hug from Metal Man of all robots,” Quick said jokingly, but he truly was happy on the inside. 

Metal chortled. “Enjoy it while it lasts, because you’re definitely not getting any more after this, haha.” He joked, before letting go of Quick. 

The scarlet Robot Master sat on the edge of the operating table, and Flash and Crash joined him. “So tell me, Metal. How’d you even survive my Force Beams? Was that the only damage? How did you even get through my station? I thought that only Megaman and I made it through, and Megaman probably cheated anyways, since he’s such a slowpoke.” Quick sneered that last part out. In the distance, Rock scowled.

“I lost an arm!” Crash piped in excitedly. “But now I have a shiny new arm! It feels so new and fresh and it’s awesome!” He spun the drill for emphasis and Quick smiled, lifting up Crash’s new arm and looking over it. It was definitely shiny… and new. 

“Well Quick,” Metal began, before his mouth widened into a big smile. “We weren’t alone, you know. Your stage was really dark, so let’s just say that we brought…” He grinned and Flash eyed Metal suspiciously. Oh no, here it comes… Flash thought. “...a _Flashlight_ with us.” Aaaaand there it is. Flash sighed. 

Quick dropped Crash’s arm. Crash began to spin both drills again. Both Robot Masters twitched. 

“GOD.” Quick huffed and then pointed at Metal. “THAT IS TERRIBLE. YOU ARE TERRIBLE. UGHHH.” He looked at his partner and Crash. “Was he always this terrible? DID HE ALWAYS PUN LIKE THIS?” 

“YES.” Crash said, whirring his drills faster. “METAL, I SWEAR…” 

“Man, and this entire time I thought you were super serious and cool!” Quick groaned. “God, he’s just like Heat…” 

“I’m sorry, Quick.” Metal apologized, feigning guilt and sadness. “I was much more serious and intimidating at our old Castle back then, but now…? Now I’m…” 

“METAL.” Crash barked, holding up his drills. 

“But now I’m…” 

“Oh no.” Flash laughed, smiling to himself. 

“METAL!!” 

Metal wore a scrap-eating grin now and looked right at Quick. “Now I’m only… _half the man I used to be.”_

Quick put his face in his hands and groaned in despair and defeat. “I HATE THIS.” He muffled into his hands. “PUT ME BACK IN THE POD, I’M GOING BACK TO BEING DEAD.” Metal by now had exploded into guffaws and hysterical laughter, and Flash couldn’t help himself but laugh loudly as well. 

“ThAT’S IT!” Crash exploded suddenly, holding up his whirring drills. “I DON’T CARE IF YOU DON’T HAVE LEGS ANYMORE, YOU’RE GOING TO GET DRILLED RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!” He began crawling closer to Metal, but a laughing Flash held him back. “FLASH, THIS IS PERSONAL, LEMME GO!” 

Quick couldn’t help but watch the scene unfolding before him and he started cracking up as well, snickering and giggling very quickly. He weakly held his hands up. “W-wait! W-w-wait hold on, s-slow down! I need more explanations!” 

Metal amongst his laughter, cried out, “I-I-I never thought i-in all my y-years I’d hear Quick Man say ‘slow down!’ Hahahahahaha!” 

Quick started laughing harder. “D-Don’t you use my own lines against me, y-ya rusty piece of scrap!” He clutched his robotic stomach. “W-what is this about C-Crash and drilling? W-what kind of drilling?! Is it what I think it means?!” 

Crash suddenly stopped baring his teeth and hyperventilating, and he snapped back to his regular self. He then grinned and looked at Metal as his drills deccelerated to a halt. “Oh yeah, that’s right!” He hopped off of the table and hovered next to Metal’s body. Crash smiled giddily and he glanced down at Metal before winking at him. “So Quick-- h-hey, Quick!” Amongst his laughter, Quick peeked an eye over at Crash and Metal. “Check this out--” And then Crash leaned down and gave Metal a big smooch on his face. Well… he missed his lips and ended up kissing his scar, so Crash tried again and locked lips with Metal for a minute before parting, leaving the cutter robot breathless and smiling up at the drillbot. 

Quick’s eyes went huge. “W-woah WOAH WOAH H-HOLD ON!” His finger pointed between the two back and forth. “You and Metal Blades are a thing?! He’s your partner?!” He exclaimed in surprise. 

Crash had a scrap-eating sharktooth grin. “YEAH! He might be a punning piece of scrap, but he’s MY punning piece of scrap now! And not to mention he’s amazing and super awesome and cool and hilarious and… a-and you know what? Eat scrap, Quick, ‘cuz I’ve got myself the prettiest and nicest partner ever!” He gushed happily.

Metal gushed under him, putting his hands to his face and blushing pink. “C-Crash, please, you’re way too nice to me… I’m not even half of those things…” He murmured, smiling. 

“YES YOU ARE!” Crash pouted cutely at him and Metal’s core warmed up so much at the sight that he instinctively tried to reach his hand up to try to pinch Crash’s cheeks. “...I know I’m cute~” Crash cooed quietly at him. 

“Oh yeah. They’re adorable together.” Flash mused, smiling gently. 

Quick smirked. “Hehehe… that’s fantastic. I’m real happy for you two. Metal, you better take good care of Crash. I’ve got my eye on you. And as for you, Crashy,” His smirk widened as he got off of the table and stood up, “I’m sorry, but you really shouldn’t lie to me like that.” He then patted Flash’s back and held him close. “Especially since the prettiest and nicest partner in the world is right here next to me.” Flash began to flush red while Crash narrowed his eyes. Quick leaned down and planted a small kiss on Flash’s bald head, making the blue Wilybot only blush harder. 

“Uh-uh! Flash may be super nice, b-but Metal listened to me when I was angry! And he even made me feel better about… uh… e-everything! Not to mention he helps me out with stuff I can’t do, a-and he’s always going out of his way to make me feel happy and he loves holding me and he makes me feel so special and warm and loved and a-a-and I love him back! I really love him! Oh, and he’s also super pretty underneath his mask and helmet, too.” He gushed. Metal blushed and pretended to be KO’d at this point, clutching his chest where his core would be. 

“That’s so cute!” Quick and Flash both gushed, before looking at each other. 

“Actually, on the topic of feeling loved, now that you mention it…” Flash began, smiling widely. He opened the hatch in his non-buster arm and dug into it, pulling out something small and shiny and blue. “I got your letter, Quick.” He said softly, before grabbing Quick’s hand and slipping the blue ring on his ring finger. After putting his own ring on, he gazed up at his partner lovingly before he leaned up. Quick bent down so Flash’s face was inches away from his audio receptor. “I do.” He purred into his receptor before landing a stealthy smooch on the speedy robot’s cheek, making Quick blush red and making his core begin to do backflips and laps within himself. 

Quick grinned and his eyes practically sparkled at his partner. “Flashy… aw, Flashy!” He couldn’t help but grin and laugh. He then grabbed Flash and picked him up and held him bridal style. Flash sharply inhaled in surprise before beginning to giggle and laugh alongside his partner, as Quick backed away from the table and spun him around. “I do, too! I love ya, Flashy~!” He giggled like crazy, as Flash leaned against him and just looked so damn happy. “Be mine?” He cooed at the temporal robot. 

Flash smiled softly and nuzzled his red chest. “Of course, I will. I’m yours… until time itself ends. And you…” He purred, looking up at him, “You’ll be mine, forever~” 

Metal and Crash watched the two robot lovebirds twirl around and laugh when the drillbot felt someone else’s presence nearby. He turned and found Roll next to him watching them contently. She sighed happily and had such a wide smile on her face. “Oh hey Roll,” Crash chirped happily. 

“Aren’t they so cute together?” She said, looking at Flash and Quick lost in their own little world. Soon, Rock joined her and watched them as well. 

“How long have they been together?” Rock asked. 

“Does the five years being inactive count? If yeah, then I think about five and a half years by now.” Crash answered him. 

“Crash, when I get stronger arms one day, I’m gonna hold you like that.” Metal cooed. Crash only held a drill against his cheek and smiled happily. 

“I kinda feel really bad now about defeating them back then…” Rock murmured, looking down. 

“Nah. You did us all a favor by destroying us. If you spared us, we’d still be working with Dr. Wily as we speak, and if we still worked with him, I never would’ve gotten to know Crash the way I do now. I wouldn’t be happy together with him right now. Flash and Quick wouldn’t be free and married together right now. So I… I guess I owe you a thanks for that.” Metal explained, pursing his ripped lips at the last part. 

Rock paused, before smiling softly. But then he looked confused. “Wait. Married? What you do mean?” 

“Just look at their hands, Megaman.” Metal said. Rock listened to the cutter robot and looked at the happy Flash and Quick’s hands, before his eyes widened in surprise. 

“Oh wow, they even have rings! Matching ones at that, too…” Rock exclaimed. “B-but that doesn’t make any sense though… Robots can’t get married.” 

Flash and Quick stopped spinning and laughing, and Quick gave Rock a dirty look. “Hey, we can at least PRETEND to be, okay?!” He barked at the super fighting robot. 

“Megaman, why do you have to ruin everything?” Metal said tiredly. “Of course…” 

“I’m sorry, okay?!” Rock said, feeling everyone’s tense gazes on him again. He looked at Roll for help and comfort, but she just shook her head at him. 

“Listen here, you little shit,” Quick said, “If I weren’t holding this beautiful, sparkly, bald angel in my arms right now, I’d be doing what I said before by thanking you via boomerang to the face.” 

“Actually,” Flash cut in, “I just very conveniently remembered that I forgot to tell you how I got this scar.” He smiled evilly and grinned a sharktooth grin. “MEGAMAN here, during my rematch with him, decided to bury _fourteen_ Metal Blades in my body, and one of them landed right in between my eyes.” He felt Quick’s body tremble, like a volcano before eruption. 

“WHAT?!” Quick yelled, gently letting go of Flash and putting him back on his feet. “THAT’S IT!” He pointed at Rock. “Megaman, FIGHT ME!” 

“W-wait, what?! No! I’m not fighting you!” 

“Fight me right now, or else I’m wrecking this entire lab!” Quick threatened, as he suddenly materialized a very large and very shiny Quick Boomerang in his hands, and wielded it like a zweihänder sword. 

“That doesn’t even make sense! If you destroy this lab, then Metal Man can’t get fixed and he’ll die!” Rock retorted. 

“There’s always upstairs.” Metal suggested, smirking. “And the outside, too. There’s a robot dog out there, you know.” 

“Then I’ll just wreck the upstairs part of this place! I’ll kick your dog!” Quick yelled. 

“Please don’t kick my dog.” Rock said, before sighing in defeat. “Okay, if you really want to, I’ll fight you. But it can’t be in here. We can fight outside. Just let me get ready first, okay?” Energy manifested around his body and suddenly, he was fully suited in the iconic blue suit, armor, and helmet that the one and only Megaman donned when the world needs saving. “Here, the elevator is this way.” Quick dematerialized the giant Quick Boomerang for now and followed Megaman out of laboratory. Flash immediately followed suit. Crash was about to follow, but he looked back at the immobile Metal on the table. He went over to him first. 

“Sorry Metal, I really wanna watch this. Will you be okay by yourself here?” Crash asked the cutter robot. 

“...I might be okay, maybe if I get another kiss.” Metal cooed. Crash leaned down and softly kissed Metal, who returned it tenderly. “Mmmm. Tell me how the match goes, okay? Have fun~” 

“I will!” Crash chirped, before bounding towards the elevator and heading up. 

Metal sighed and breathed slowly. Roll looked down at him. “Metal, would it be okay if I left, too? I need to start making lunch for everybody.” 

The burgundy Robot Master’s eyes met with Roll’s and his expression softened. “I really wish I could help you out today, …but if I did in my condition right now, I’d be a little _wired.”_ Metal joked, making a finger gun at Roll and winking. The cleaning robot laughed and snorted as she pat his metallic chest. 

“That one was pretty good!” She calmed down and exhaled. “Oh Metal, whenever you and your brothers visit, it’s always so exciting and so much fun…” Roll said, smiling sweetly at him. “I won’t be gone too long!” And with that, she went to the elevator next. Metal sighed. Now it was just him and the Doctor. Said doctor finally made his way over from whatever he was taking care of to the cutter robot. 

“Well,” Doctor Light began, before drinking some water, “That went along much smoother than I imagined it would’ve. I remember Rock told me many things about Quick Man five years ago. Such as how deadly and… impulsive and quick to jump to fighting he is.” 

“Doctor, did you just pun at me?” Metal said, smiling. 

Doctor Light went silent, his brows furrowing, before his expression morphed into something similar to mild astonishment. “I did.” He said, before emitting a hearty laugh. “Perhaps I should research if puns are as contagious and strong as my sickness.” 

Metal chuckled at the idea, resting his head back against the table. “How is that, by the way? Are you recovering lately?” 

“I’ve finally finished and survived a rather abysmal week of doctor’s appointments,” Light joked, “So hopefully after I begin to take all these dreadful prescriptions, I can begin recovering at a faster pace. And what of you, Metal Man? How have you been feeling lately?” 

“You can just call me Metal.” Said robot told the sickly doctor. “And honestly? I’ve been feeling a lot of things.” He went quiet, before a thought crossed his mind and he snickered. “You know, Doctor, lately I’ve been beginning to think of you less as a roboticist and more of a psychologist. Since I tell you my thoughts and feelings and short-term goals quite often.” 

“If you want, I could always be that as well. After all, you can tell me whatever you want.” Dr. Light told him, smiling warmly. He walked away for a moment, only to pull up a wheelie chair to the operating table and sat down. He pulled out his notebook and a pen. 

“Oh. Oh yeah, you’re right.” Metal said. He exhaled tiredly. “Where do I begin…? Can I get some advice, please?” 

“Hmmm.” Light stroked his fluffy beard, pursing his lips. “You could always begin with your opinion on this experiment. Has it changed any?” 

Metal closed his eyes and paused for a few moments. Eventually, he softly breathed in and spoke. “Yeah. It has. For the better.”

~~~~~

Quick Man pointed at Megaman, and formed that notorious smirk of his. “You know, I’m really thankful that you reactivated me. ‘Cuz now I get to have another rematch with you. Amazingly, one that’s not in some stupid cramped teleporter room, either. Plus, as much as I’d like to shove a million Quick Boomerangs up your ass, this isn’t a fight to the death this time, is it?” His smirk turned devious. _“I can’t wait_ to show my gratitude to you.”

Megaman stood far across from him. “It isn’t a death match, unless you want to make your partner really sad. Also, it was your family that reactivated you, not me. You should probably be filled in on what your situation right now is, actually…” He called out. 

“You and the others can fill me in on all the news later. I gotta kick your ass first.” 

“Why must you insist so hard on fighting me?” 

“Because this time, it’s not stupid orders, it’s personal now. You scarred my partner’s cute and sexy face, and now I’ll never forgive you for that. And I’m gonna beat you up.” 

Megaman sighed exasperatedly. The two of them stood far across from each other in a grassy clearing. Very closeby, Crash Man and Flash Man sat on the porch steps that led into the back of the house. Flash’s hand firmly rested on the head of a red robotic dog, who was more than a little excited to meet new Robot Masters. He actually wouldn’t stop trying to climb all over Crash and lick his face until Flash grabbed him and held him. Crash wished he could pet Rush, but sadly, he had drills for hands. 

“Alright, get ready!” Flash announced. Quick bent low and assumed a battle position, ready to run at any second. Megaman double checked his Mega Buster to make sure everything worked, before making his battle face at the scarlet red Robot Master. Flash held his free hand in the air and lifted three fingers. “Three…” Quick grinned. “Two--” 

“FIGHT!!” Crash screamed impatiently. And like that, Quick rocketed off towards the Blue Bomber. His legs moved so fast they were a blur to all the Robot Masters, and Megaman only had about two seconds of reaction time before Quick Man thrusted his fist out, aiming for Megaman’s face. Unfortunately, Megaman was quick on his feet and leaped above him, and the scarlet Robot Master kept going for a short distance. He fired many shots of his Mega Buster, but only managed to hit Quick once in the back. Quick grunted in annoyance as that particular spot of his back burned. 

He spun around in the blink of an eye, and began running at Megaman again, his speed only accelerating. He’s SO FAST, Crash thought excitedly, grinning. His optics struggled to keep up with Quick, as said speedy robot was almost a blur at some points when he ran. Megaman fired more shots at the Robot Master, but this time, Quick’s eyes widened and he saw an opportunity rise before him. Amongst his running, he suddenly began quick-stepping to the side, effortlessly dodging each and all of his attacks. He lifted his launcher arm and fired five Quick Boomerangs at Megaman in succession. The Blue Bomber noticed Quick preparing a tackle run behind the boomerangs and he suddenly jumped as high as he could just seconds before Quick collided with him. Megaman looked behind himself at Quick and sighed in relief, before he was suddenly pelted with all of the boomerangs at once. His arch in his jump was completely ruined and he fell down fast. 

By then, Quick had already turned around and his grin widened so much more, his circuits racing in excitement. He bolted off towards the robot again, his legs taking him even faster than before, at greater speeds than any normal human or robot could ever hope to achieve. Just before Megaman hit the ground, Quick lept and did a flying kick. 

WHAM!! 

Megaman tumbled to the ground for more than a few seconds. But Quick wasn’t done yet with his intense rushdown. He summoned the much larger Quick Boomerang in his hands and raced off towards the super fighting robot again. Megaman was trembling on the ground, but shakily pushed himself up. He stayed silent as he began to charge his Mega Buster, the arm cannon beginning to glow and flash multiple colors. Quick didn’t notice it, however, and he launched himself high into the air, holding the sword-like boomerang above his head, ready to strike down. Flash smiled widely. This is the Quick Man he remembered training with. Wild, relentless, fast, hot… 

Megaman looked up at Quick ready to slam the huge boomerang against him. On instinct, he slid out of the way before Quick slammed the larger Quick Boomerang against the ground with great force, causing the ground to shake for just a moment. Quick whipped around, with such a huge smirk on his face. “Oh, you got new moves?” He cooed, before pulling his large boomerang out of the ground. “Why don’t you show me them?” He growled excitedly, before winding his arms behind him, carefully aiming the boomerang. Megaman might try to jump out of the way, he thought, so I should probably aim slightly higher than my regular throw and clip his legs… In Quick’s sight, a reticle locked onto Megaman… His throwing accuracy and CPU’s trajectory calculators were nowhere near as finely tuned and polished as Metal’s were, but he had a good feeling about this throw. Quick took a step back and bent his knees slightly, before he took a few steps forward and threw the huge, shiny, sharp boomerang with all of his strength and might. 

The huge boomerang cut through the air and rushed right towards Megaman. Yes! Quick thought, the throw was perfect! He began to run towards Megaman again. I bet he’s not ready for this! However, by that point, Megaman had finally gotten up from his slide and turned around, aiming his Mega Buster right at the boomerang. “With pleasure!” He called out, before unleashing from his arm cannon an energy blast three times his own size. Quick’s eyes widened huge and he jammed his feet into the dirt and grass to try to halt his velocity, but he was just going too fast. The Charge Shot collided and exploded upon impact with the giant Quick Boomerang, but it was just enough to push it in the opposite direction, directly at Quick. 

“Oh shi--” 

BOOM!! 

Quick Man went flying dozens of feet into the air and landed in the forest brush somewhere just behind the grassy clearing. Crash and Flash stared, wide-eyed and slackjawed for a moment. And then Crash exploded. “WwwwOOOOOAAAAHHHHH!!” He suddenly yelled, rocketing to his feet. “What was THAT?!” He yelled. “Megaman, what kind of attack was that?! What’s it called?! That was cool!” 

Flash blinked away his astonishment and announced, “I’m gonna go get Quick, okay?” He slowly stood up and let go of Rush, who immediately tackled Crash to the ground and assaulted him with hyperactive robot dog licks. He ignored Crash’s screams for help and jogged over to the trees where Quick landed. “Quick?” He called out, looking around for his partner. He eventually found him in a pile of broken tree branches. His body was smoking and there was a huge gash in the center of his chest. “Quick, you okay?” 

“Ughhhh…” He groaned, before blacking out and going limp. 

Flash shook his head and picked up Quick into his arms. Well, it was at least worth a shot, Flash thought. Still, even if he lost, he tried to fight in my name. I’ve gotta thank him later for that. He smiled. What a sweetheart.

~~~~~

Darkness swallowed him and everything around him, but he could hear a voice.

“…ui… …Qui…” 

What? He listened closely and the voice became clearer. It was deep and gentle and very familiar.

“Quick…? Quick… Quiiiiiiick…” 

He knew that voice anywhere! Light poured into his vision as he slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was his sparkly blue partner looking down at him, with a look of concern etched onto his face. His hands were gently on his shoulders and Quick took a moment to collect himself. His mind flashed with fresh memories of his most recent battle. “Oh thank goodness… I thought for one second something was wron--” Flash tried to say, before a thought struck Quick so hard and distinctly that it instantly woke him up. He began vibrating in place. 

“FLASH!” Quick gasped, “I just realized something!” His mouth curved up into a huge, happy grin. “I could see! I can see when I run now! My eyes actually kept up with me! E-everything was so crisp and clear when I was running faster and faster! Oh my god, did Dr. Light fix my eyes?!” 

“Well actually, he replaced your eyes entirely. You’re seeing through something much more powerful than what you used to have, according to the Doctor,” Flash explained smiling. “I’m so happy you can see again.” 

However, Quick’s smile dropped and he began vibrating again. “Wait, w-wait, he replaced them?! OH GOD, what color are my eyes now?! I SWEAR IF THEY’RE RED I’M GONNA FLIP--” 

Flash was chuckling and moved one of his hands to his cheek. “They’re still the same old color, don’t worry. I asked Dr. Light to improve your eyesight, but to keep the same eye color. No need to change something that we both love~” He cooed, brushing his metallic thumb against Quick’s cheek. His face was warm and soft. 

“Hehehehe, thank you, Flash. Thank you so, so much…” He murred at him. “I love my eyes. They’re blue like you~” 

“I know,” Flash purred. “I love your eyes, too. I actually love everything about you, in case you didn’t know.” 

“Thanks, Flash. Now I know.” Quick joked, before sitting up from the table he laid upon and got repaired on. He leaned forward and met his lips with Flash’s and kissed him gently and slowly. Flash tenderly kissed him back, caressing his jawline. The two guided each other slowly, bringing each other closer and hugging each other. Normally, Quick wouldn’t be able to stand doing anything at this slow of a speed, but with Flash, it was different. He had no idea how Flash managed to do it, but he made slow kissing fun for him. Maybe perhaps it’s because it made his body race on the inside instead of the outside. 

“A-ahem, boys…?” Roll coughed, causing the two to slow down and stop kissing, and get their attention. “Are you doing okay, Quick Man? Does everything feel functional and right?” She asked. 

Quick stared at Roll, eyes narrowing. “I’m sorry, who are you?” 

“Oops, that’s right, I never said hi to you. Hi! I’m Roll, I’m Megaman’s twin sister! It’s nice to finally meet you!” She chimed happily, smiling up at him. She stuck a hand out and Quick shook it hastily. 

“Don’t worry, she’s cool,” Flash commented. “She’s very kind and talented and caring.” 

“Oh, stop that!” Roll gushed, blushing lightly at the compliments. “I’m not nearly as talented as you are! I finally got a frame for that awesome drawing you made for me! You made Drum so pretty…” 

“Well, I can’t disagree with that,” Quick chirped, leaning against Flash. “Flashy’s artwork is beyond awesome, after all.” And now it was Flash’s turn to blush from the compliments. “Hey Roll, do you know where your brother is? I gotta go beat him up again.” 

Flash glanced at his partner. “Quick, you already battled him… You don’t have to do it again for me.” 

“But I didn’t win, Flash. What’s the point of fighting someone in somebody else’s name if you’re just gonna lose? Now I kind of want to fight him again just to make up for the last match.” 

“I thought it was the thought that counted and mattered the most? Which by the way, thank you, Quick~” Flash said, hugging him again. 

Quick pouted for a moment, thinking about it. “Yeah, that’s true, but…” He pouted more and crossed his arms. “Ugh, it just doesn’t feel right. It was supposed to be cool and intense and the victory woulda just been the icing on the cake, you know? Or at least, that’s how I saw it in my mind… Now it’s ruined.” 

“Well I thought the battle was cool and intense, definitely.” Flash sighed contently, leaning back against him. “You should’ve heard Crash before, he was flipping out over your battle. And I loved watching you fight, too. You’re just so… fast… and graceful. Not to mention, you almost took Megaman down! If your bigger boomerang hit him, he would’ve been knocked out. That’s more than I could ever say, really. My battles with him made me feel like kind of a pushover, to be honest. You at least have a fighting chance.” 

“Flash.” Quick snorted, creeping his hand towards Flash’s hand, before resting it on top of his. “You can stop time. What kind of pushover is capable of stopping time? You have such a terrifying weapon, and you yourself are wonderful and talented and strong and pretty too, and I’d say that you losing wasn’t your fault. Or any of our faults. We tried our very hardest that day and the day before. Although I wanna say that Dr. Wily might’ve been responsible for us losing in some way, but I’m not exactly sure how…” 

“Heh. Thanks.” Flash murred against him. He then went quiet for a few moments. “Quick? Could I talk to you about something serious?” He asked softly. 

Quick’s hand smoothed over Flash’s and bumped the small, simplistic red ring that his ring finger adorned. “Of course you can.” Quick said. “But… do you think it could wait for just a little bit…? I’m sorry, Flashy… I promise I’ll make quick work of Megaman.” 

“Psssh. Okay, Metal.” Flash muttered, smirking.

“What--” Quick paused, before he realized what he has done. “Oh goddamnit, now I’m punning too.” 

“I can wait for you for a little bit,” Flash said, “but what happens if you keep losing to him?” 

“Flash, do you really think I’d lose over and over again after all we’ve been through? After all of that awful, torturous training we’ve been put through?” 

“It’s not like I don’t believe in you, Quick. It’s just that… Megaman killed all of us twice, the second time without breaking a sweat. You don’t think he’s strong enough to take you out over and over?” 

Quick went quiet and scowled. He was grinding his pearly white robotic teeth behind his closed lips. He hated that everything Flash said was right. “...no, I know. I know he’s stronger than all of us. But I still want to try. My core is telling me not to give up just yet.” He said softly. 

Flash looked at him, before his mouth curved upwards into a small smile. “Robot Masters keep fighting…” He began. 

“...no matter what.” Quick finished. Flash raised an eyebrow at him. “…I’ve been wanting to adjust that motto ever since I said it that day. This one’s simpler and to the point, don’tcha think?” 

Flash chuckled. “It is. So how long are you going to fight Megaman?” 

The speedy Robot Master put a hand to his chin. “I’m not sure, actually.” 

“…Five battles, then. I’m giving you five battles with him before I begin to get impatient. And you know I don’t get impatient often. Is that good enough?” Flash said, recollecting and trying to estimate how long that first battle was. These next battles shouldn’t take too long… 

Quick flashed him a gorgeous smile that made the blue Wilybot’s core feel warm and tingly. “That’s more than enough. Thanks, sweetie, you’re the best~. C’mere.” Quick then gently grabbed Flash’s chin and tugged him closer, until he could give him a quick smooch on the lips, and then a smooch on where Flash’s nose would’ve been, and then a gentle, tender smooch on his scar. Flash shut his eyes for a second, before looking up at him, relaxed and content. Quick got up and off of the operating table, and ran past the busy-at-work Dr. Light who was helping a fire-themed Robot Master he’s never seen before melt and create new body parts for Metal, and ran right into the elevator. 

Upon reaching the living room, Quick almost immediately found Roll, Crash, and Rock on the couch, watching TV. They were watching another competition on Crash’s request, and this time it was motor racing. The scarlet Robot Master leaned over the edge of the couch between Rock and Roll. “Hey, Megaman.” He chirped. “Oooo, can someone record this for later?” 

“Hey, Quick Man. Sure. You’re all repaired now?” Rock asked, before adding. “Also, that was a really good battle earlier. You almost beat me! I’m really impressed. I had no idea you had so many moves you never showed off back then…” 

“Pah. I’m fine. And I wasn’t exactly having a good day the day that you destroyed me. This battle was definitely better. And I was able to try out those moves because we fought in a large, open field. Why’d you think my station was out in the big as hell desert? I don’t exactly fight well in small cramped places.” Rock opened his mouth to object but Quick cut him off. “Those battle arenas were Dr. Wily’s design choices.” Rock closed his mouth. 

“It brings back memories, really. To see you fighting like that again. You were so cool out there!” Crash said, looking over at Quick. 

“Heh. Thanks, Crashy~. I’d be shocked if I wasn’t cool out there.” 

“Oh! So if you’ve got the time, you should really sit down and get filled in on what’s going on…” Rock suggested but Quick simply shook his head no. 

“Nah, no time for that. I gotta beat you up again.” He replied.

“What?! Why?” 

“I just need to. I wanna give it another shot. I have to try again.” 

Rock was silent. He then sighed tiredly. “You’re not going to leave me alone until we fight again, aren’t you?” 

“NOPE!” Quick said cheerily. 

“Of course,” Rock sighed. Somewhere downstairs, Metal’s eyes and receptor extensions began twitching. Rock slowly stood up and got back into his battle suit. “Alright, let’s do this.”

~~~~~

Crash and Flash eagerly watched Megaman and Quick get ready to battle again. Quick reached for his weapon and in turn, Megaman was reaching for his. A countdown. And then they were at each other’s necks again.

The first battle was good and quick. Quick, now aware of and expecting Megaman’s Charge Shots and slides, worked his way around them and almost defeated him, if not for the fact that Megaman baited one of his attacks and suddenly used the Time Stopper against him. Quick grimaced. His circuits slowed… and in the blink of an eye, he collapsed to the ground, completely drained of energy. 

The second battle then commenced later on, and Quick yelled at Megaman for using his weakness on him. Megaman simply shrugged and said that there was no rules saying he couldn’t use them. Quick yelled ‘No weaknesses’ against Megaman and then proceeded to get his metallic posterior handed to him by a deadly uppercut move that Megaman pulled out of seemingly nowhere. 

The third battle was interrupted when Metal suddenly came outside to show off his new legs and fully rebuilt lower half. Quick was too distracted to notice a fully charged Charge Shot coming his way. When Megaman woke him up after repairs, he told him he needs to focus more. Quick pulled at his own helm’s horns in frustration and gnashed his teeth. 

It began to rain. A cold wind blew… Dr. Light called Flash Man indoors to explain to him about the monthly reports and help him with his first one. 

The fourth battle ended quicker than Quick Man would ever admit. 

…

~~~~~

“UGHHHH,” Quick groaned, begrudgingly climbing out of the pod. “WHY CAN’T I WIN?!” He suddenly screamed out loud to no one in particular. Crash, who was right next to him, flinched at his volume, before tagging alongside him.

“Well, at least you’re doing a good job each time. Well, I think so, at least.” Crash said, pursing his lips. “You fight way better than I ever could.” 

Quick growled at himself, balling his fists. “No matter what I do! Every strategy I try! Megaman just HAS a counter for it! Or he evades it! How can he even dodge my attacks? DOES MY SPEED MEAN NOTHING AT ALL? I guess so if it’s unavoidable _death_ that I’m running from!” He yelled, throwing his hands into the air. 

“Calm down, Quick. You’re just frustrated.” Metal said, on the other side of the scarlet Robot Master. “Maybe you oughta take a break.” 

“I don’t want to hear it from you! I ate a Charge Shot because of you!” He barked at the cutter robot. 

“Yeah, and I ate a Force Beam because you forgot to unlock the back door.” Metal retorted, putting a metal hand on his new hip. 

Quick huffed angrily and crossed his arms. His fingers began to tap rapidly against his arms, before he briskly walked towards the elevator. Crash and Metal followed suit inside. “Maybe Metal’s right. Maybe a break might be good for you…” Crash murmured. 

“Don’t worry, I’m gonna take one either way. I agreed with Flash that I’d only battle Megaman five times, so once my ass gets handed to me this time, I’ll kindly piss off and… and… oh, I don’t freakin’ know. I’ll run some laps or something.” Quick said bitterly, trudging towards the back entrance once the elevator reached the main floor. He was almost vibrating with frustration.

Metal grabbed his arm. “You don’t have to fight him right now, you know. You can save that last battle for later, when you’re rested and full of energy and overall happier feelings.” 

Quick yanked his arm out of Metal’s grip and turned around. “I really want to try again. I’ll win eventually if I keep trying, right? Doesn’t it bother you? That Megaman ALWAYS wins? I don’t even know what year it is right now but I don’t want to think about how many Robot Masters he’s effortlessly taken down since he last made a joke out of all of us.” 

“The number’s pretty ugly once you find out how many wars have gone by since ours,” Metal sighed. “And it does bother me. It just feels… unfair, honestly. We can try as hard as we can, but so long as Megaman’s copied the right weapon, and has an E-tank, we go down like that. So I know how you feel.” Metal said, snapping his fingers. He looked away, his eyes narrowing in annoyance. “Do you know what it feels like when the right weapon is your own damn weapon? He threw a single Metal Blade at me and took my life, pride, AND will to fight, all at once.” He said bitterly, sarcasm oozing from his masked lips. “It makes me feel like one hell of a lesser robot, that’s for sure. And we all basically are now since Wily’s built his own version of Megaman.” 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Quick breathed, looking at Metal. “Y-you’re joking.” 

“I really wish I was.” He sighed. 

“T-that’s so…” Quick stammered, not even sure what he’s feeling right now. “That’s just… I feel so gross and betrayed now.”

Crash looked between the two with a sad expression. He didn’t like seeing either of them like this… “Guys…” He said sadly. “Guys, come on, you don’t need to… you don’t gotta…” His eyes squinted, trying to find the right words. “Argh…” He snorted. “You don’t… j-just… Shit- Just.. but who CARES about that, though?!” He snapped, getting the attention of his partner and his brother. “Who cares if Megaman is stronger than everyone else?! Who cares if we can’t win against him? Who cares if Dr. Wily made some evil version of Megaman? I don’t care at all! That’s not our problem anymore! That’s just what Dr. Wily cared about!” He yelled, pointing at the two with a drill. “And we’re not Dr. Wily. I thought that we were reactivated because Dr. Light wanted to see if we could try something besides trying to defeat Megaman. You know, to try something new! He told us we had to make our own choices now so you know what? I’m choosing not to care about that stuff anymore! I’m choosing to go eat dinner instead now!” He huffed, before turning around and stomping towards the kitchen. 

Quick and Metal stared speechless at the empty space where Crash once stood, before looking at each other. Metal’s expression saddened considerably. “Maybe Megaman didn’t take away my pride at all…” He muttered miserably, his receptors’ extensions flattening against his head. 

Suddenly, Flash came bolting out of the elevator to the two of them. “I heard Crash angry-yelling, what’s going on?! Did anything get blown up?!” 

Quick looked at the two of them confused and wide-eyed. “I… I-I have no idea what just happened. Metal, what just happened?” 

“Flash, we have to tell Quick about what’s been going on.” Metal said. Flash’s mouth set into a firm line and he nodded. 

Flash took a deep breath before looking at his partner. “Okay… so you already guessed that we got left around like trash, right…?” Quick blinked and nodded. “Yeah… Dr. Wily never recovered us. He abandoned us and kind of just moved on. It’s been five years since we were destroyed… Megaman just ended the 9th War. Th-the only reason that we’re even here is because Dr. Light wanted us for an experiment to see if we’re capable of making our own decisions and choices. A-and we don’t really know what to do about Dr. Wily right now. That’s the abridged version of our situation.” 

Quick stared at Flash, processing everything he said. Soon, he spoke softly. “Wow… what an asshole.” He murmured, before raising his voice to a normal volume. “I think I get now why Crash got mad. Aw, jeez… where did he go? Now I feel really bad. I woke up just today a-and I should’ve spent more time catching up with you guys, but all I did was just try to fight Megaman all day… And for what, even? I feel like a real piece of scrap. I gotta find him.” He began to head towards the kitchen, but Flash and Metal both put their hands on his shoulders and pulled him back. 

“Hey, hey, before you do that, could you answer us quickly?” Metal asked. “No pun intended this time.” 

“Do you know what we should do about Dr. Wily…? We’ve thought about our options a lot, but…” Flash added. 

Quick looked at Flash. “What, isn’t the answer obvious?” He then glanced at Metal. His two brothers were quiet, looking down. The speedy Robot Master exhaled and faced them again, and put his hands on their shoulders this time. “Fuck Wily.” He firmly stated. Flash and Metal stared at him wide-eyed. Quick looked at them back. “What? Did I stutter? I said Fuck. Wily.” They blinked at him. “…Look. He abandoned us, left us for dirt. For what now, five years, you said? He had wars without us. We’re garbage in his eyes. Past failures. Dr. Light of all people, our old enemy, reactivated us before Wily did. You three had to physically go get me, just so we could be together again. He doesn’t care anymore. So, why should we? Like Crash said, who cares anymore?” 

“Yeah, b-but…” Flash interjected, but Quick gave him a look. 

“But what? …are you unsure of the future? I mean, I get it if you guys are scared. We’re in kind of a scary situation right now. Dr. Wily built us to fight Megaman and we did already, twice at that! We did our best, and it’s over and done with. That’s what Dr. Wily wanted to us to do and we did it. Now it’s time that we start doing what we want to do. It’s time to move on. I’d be lying if I said I’m not scared anymore ‘cuz I am a little scared, but what else can we do? We can’t change the past, all we can do is keep running forward.” He smiled softly. “Robot Masters keep fighting no matter what. We have to keep moving on.” 

Metal finally looked up and exhaled softly. “…You’re absolutely right. We can figure something out. I just… I already knew all of this, but… you’re right again. I was scared. I’m scared right now. Hell, I was terrified the first month I was reactivated.” 

Quick smirked that smirk that they all knew so well. “Well, I’m here now. You’re gonna be okay.” He looked at Flash and his expression softened. “We’re going to be okay. And even if the future isn’t okay, we’ll just try our damn best to deal with it, like we always have. We’ll be together the whole ride this time. And I’ll try my damn best not to let anything happen to you guys. … …Flash, you’re shaking. Aw, c’mere, ya big, blue beautiful ‘bot, you…” He pulled a trembling and shaking Flash into his embrace and held him gently. Said blue Wilybot seemed to completely melt in his arms, hugging him back. “There, there, I’m here now. It’s gonna be okay.” He murmured. 

“Quiiick…” Flash whimpered against him. “I missed you so much. I needed this.” Soon, he felt another body on the two of them, and Metal wrapped his arms around them both and joined the hug. 

“I think we all needed to hear this.” Metal said softly. “Thanks, Quick. For being here.” 

Quick adjusted himself and threw one of his arms around Metal. “Nah. Thank you for bringing me back. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to see you guys again ever since that day. I was hoping to anything out there that maybe just one day, we all could get another chance to be together.” 

“I think we might’ve gotten an idea.” Flash joked, before producing Quick’s ring. “Take your ring if you’re not gonna fight Megaman anymore today.” Quick took it and parted from the hug. 

“Nah, I’m not in the mood anymore. Who cares about that guy anyways?” He said, chuckling and snickering. Metal couldn’t help but grin behind his mask. “C’mon, we should go check on Crash before he decides to level this place.” 

The three went over to the kitchen, where Roll was cleaning the dishes. She looked at them, and they were about to ask about Crash, when she pointed to the tiny dining room next to the kitchen. Upon walking in, they found Crash sitting alone at the table with a meal on his plate. Or rather, the food was everywhere on the table and all over his drills. He looked extremely frustrated and was shaking. 

“Oh nooo,” Quick said, smiling and feeling terrible at the same time, “Oh no, Crashy!” He was instantly by his side and hugged him. “Crash, Crash, Crash… do you want a new plate of this human food? Also, guess who stopped caring about Megamaaan?” 

Crash simply growled at him in response. Metal chuckled and went to the kitchen for a moment, only to come back with a new plate of the dinner that Roll cooked. “Here Crash, I got you more food.” He took a seat next to him, wiped his drills clean with a cloth rag on the table. “Crash,” He cooed, “I’m here now. And Quick and I aren’t bitter and angry anymore… I’m sorry that we got that way. That advice you gave was pretty great, actually.” He picked up the forgotten fork on the table and summoned a Metal Blade and cut the meat into pieces, before holding a piece to Crash’s mouth. 

Crash stared down at his plate, unresponsive at first, before he looked up and glared at Metal. But then, still glaring, he leaned forward and chomped onto the piece of meat on the fork. Metal retracted his mask and smiled. 

“There, is that better?” Metal asked, before holding up another cut piece for his partner. Crash bit into that piece next. 

“…Maybe,” The drillbot murmured, before returning the smallest hint of a smile back at Metal. Metal’s own smile widened. Quick let go of Crash and was at Flash’s side. 

“By the way, how is he eating human food?” He whispered at him. 

Flash looked back at him. “Dr. Light modified and upgraded our fuel converters and well, now we can eat any kind of food.” 

Quick’s eyes widened. “Oh shit, we can?!” He grinned. “I AM SO EATING MY FIRST DINNER TONIGHT HAHAHA!” He bolted for the kitchen. “Roll, three more plates, please!”

~~~~~

“Flash? Crash? Metal Blades?” Quick called out from the kitchen. Of course, he ate his meal the quickest out of the four, and Roll told him to wash his own plate. “I’m gonna go for a jog for a little bit, you all okay with that?” Quick felt his legs beginning to get antsy again. Plus, some time alone would probably help him sort through his many thoughts and emotions from today.

“But if you leave, you might miss dessert, though,” Roll teased, and Quick’s hands trembled against the sponge and plate he held. 

“That’s real tempting, Roll. Really. But despite how amazing food tastes, especially your cooking, nothing beats my love for running.” Quick said, finishing up his plate and drying his hands hastily. He looked back at the three Wilybots at the table and gave a thumbs up. “Good?” 

He was met with two thumbs up and a drill lifted for emphasis. “Sweet. I’ll be right back!” Quick chirped, suddenly bolting out of the kitchen and out of the front door in the blink of an eye. 

Crash waited eagerly for the mystery dessert that Roll was making. Metal and Flash were content. Soon enough, footsteps sounded nearby but instead of Roll, it was Dr. Light. “Oh, there you three are. Where did Quick Man go? Also, would you mind if I borrowed Crash Man’s time for a little bit? I still need a report from him.” 

Crash looked at Metal and Flash and pouted cutely. Metal chuckled. “I know. I’ll speak with the chef to see if she can save you a plate.” He reassured the drillbot. 

Flash stood up slowly. “Quick went out for a short run. Would you care if I joined you both? I actually have a few more questions to ask you, if you don’t mind.” 

Light smiled. “Not at all. Come along now.” Crash and Flash, and eventually Metal, followed Dr. Light downstairs into the lab. They stood in front of the largest, main computer monitor and Dr. Light took a seat in his favorite chair. “Now, if Crash Man has much to say, perhaps you might want to ask your questions first, Flash Man.” 

“Sure, Doctor.” Flash said, and opened his mouth to ask the first one that’s been eating at his CPU for days now, when suddenly a loud beeping boomed over anything he was about to say. It sounded suspiciously similar to a dial tone. Dr. Light’s eyebrows raised and he looked at the main computer’s monitor. 

“Wha-- A call? Who in the world wants to hold a videocall with me at this hour?” Light mumbled to himself. Flash tilted his head in confusion. But it was only 9:22pm…? That’s not late at all. Light moved to the great computer’s keyboard and was about to press a key that would’ve rejected the call instantly, but stopped. The dial proceeded to continue its loud and droning default ring, and Light only then noticed who was calling. 

_Unknown number calling. . ._

_Unknown area. . ._

He squinted harder at the screen as a smaller message popped up on a smaller window opened. 

_“A. W. W.”_

Dr. Light’s eyes widened and his hands balled into fists. He turned to the Robot Masters and spoke in the most serious tone they have ever heard him use. “Hide. The three of you must hide somewhere right now.” He reached into his pocket and pushed a button of some sort repeatedly. 

Metal did not hesitate and he dragged his brothers to the side of the lab. They hid themselves behind a wall of very tall computer server towers. The three peeked their heads out. “What’s happening right now?” Crash whispered. “Why do we need to hide?” 

“I hope this isn’t what I think it is…” Metal whispered back. Rock bolted down into the lab and was instantly at Dr. Light’s side. 

“Dr. Light, I heard your signal, I’m here!!” Rock said in a panic. “What’s wrong, what’s--” And then he saw the call on the screen. “Oh no.” 

Dr. Light pushed a key on his keyboard and answered the call. A video screen appeared and was static for a moment, before a face appeared on it. The Wilybots’ cores turned ice cold. They knew the face very well.

“It’s what I think it is.” Metal whispered. “Of course…” 

“Hello, Thomas.” A familiar, old and grating voice cut through the tension and silence. The voice turned vile and venomous upon seeing the sickly doctor’s most famous creation through the video feed. _“And Megaman.”_

Dr. Light and Rock glared at the person on the other end of the line, whom was none other than… 

“Dr. Wily.” Light responded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE AGAIN DUN DUNNNN 
> 
> How did you guys like that? Please comment with your thoughts and opinions! I really look forward to them! Chapter 9's gonna be something hahahaha ;D Until next time! See you later, space Fire Man. . .


	9. Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *inhales* AAAAAAAAAAA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, long time no see! So school's started for me and AAAAAAA-- I mean, it's been busy and hectic. But I managed to crank this chapter out regardless due to the motivation I felt from my friends and followers, and sheer determination. 
> 
> However, this chapter is a little shorter than Chapters 7 and 8, and I deeply apologize for that. I plan to make it up with Chapter 10. I'VE GOT PLANS FOR THAT HEHEHEHE~ 
> 
> Please enjoy~!

No. No, this is not happening right now. 

No, please, no… 

He’d take anything over this right now. 

It’s literally only been a few hours! He’s only just gotten a few hours of time together with Quick… The blue Wilybot thought in horror as him and his brothers were, indirectly, face to face with someone whom they have both wanted and dreaded to see for what felt like a timeless eternity. He shivered behind his two brethren. This could mean so many things. So many _bad_ things. The possibilities flipped through his cognitive space. He could find out about us. He could find out about _us_. Or Crash and Metal… Oh god, Crash and Metal… How would he react to them being together? What would he try to do? He didn’t have a clue and _he hated it._

Flash felt his body tremble and quiver against the computer server towers that served as their only shelter and hiding place at the moment. The towers themselves were warm from having been used all day long, but it did nothing to cease the overbearing chilling of his core. His limbs wanted to give up on him, but he remained as still as a statue. Or a destroyed robot. Stop that, he told himself. _He could always destroy us,_ an imaginary voice within his CPU told him, _he could take Quick away from you…_ Flash hastily searched within his memory and knowledge databanks to see if there was a way he could manually shut off his doubts and irrational fears. …He knew that Dr. Wily was only on a screen and not in person, but it didn’t stop Flash from losing nearly all sense of logical thinking. He didn’t WANT to jump to the worst possible conclusion, but god, was it hard to keep his mind anxiety-free at a time like this. 

Dr. Albert A. Wily simply had that effect on robots like Flash Man. Flash hated this so much more than he could even understand. His body remained unmoving, yet his CPU was running through so many emotions almost as rapidly as Quick Man. He was capable of stopping time! He should’ve been capable of doing as he pleases with a power like that. But even a power that great meant absolutely nothing if you had to follow Dr. Wily’s orders. If he ordered you to do something, _you did it._ It wasn’t a matter of obedience or disobedience. Him and his brothers were literally programmed to follow Dr. Wily’s every single order five years ago. It was absolute. If he had the power to make his own decisions back then… The things he could have done differently! If they all had that ability, the problems they could have solved! Then, the night that… 

Flash closed his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. Pull yourself together, he told himself. I’m just panicking because I’m feeling scared. _Yes, I am scared. For many justifiable reasons at that; shall we go over each one of them in excruciating detai--_ Shut up! Flash focused more on his breathing and was unknowingly breathing down Crash’s back. The drillbot didn’t seem phased though. He placed a hand on Crash’s shoulder in case he felt like falling over. He could feel his circuits speeding up and his core feeling like it was burning and freezing at the same time. He would’ve been concerned if his mind wasn’t so preoccupied. His wires twisted up inside him. He felt so weak and powerless. He hated it. He hated how easily frightened Dr. Wily could make him with a single look given or sentence uttered. How if he truly wanted it, he was capable of bringing down Flash’s entire world in only just a couple of words. 

Then again, hasn’t that already happened? 

Hasn’t him and his brothers already been through the absolute worst? 

No, his mind answered for him. There are much worse fates out there than simply dying twice. It could always be much worse. 

… 

… 

Crash did not flinch at Flash’s hand resting on his shoulder. His eyes were boring into the screen that showed his master, his creator, his irresponsible father’s face on it. He didn’t know how to feel. His core felt like it was on fire, but his circuits and wires felt uncomfortably still and cold. He loved Dr. Wily like a parent for creating him and giving him his brothers and his partner and showing him the joy of completely decimating something with deadly explosives. But he also hated him so, so much. He designed him without hands. He can barely function on his own because of him. It’s _his fault_ why he feels so useless most of the time! Not to mention that they all were nothing but loyal and obedient to him, and what thanks did they get? Being buried and abandoned underneath a pile of debris. Forgotten and in pieces inside a dilapidated, collapsed factory. Mutilated and unimportant inside a forgotten cave. Collecting dust. Barely existing. 

He didn’t even bother to collect us, Crash stated within himself. He left us, discarded and littered around like… like… garbage. We’re just forgotten heaps of scrap to him, Crash thought, scowling. And I’m a handless heap. He could feel a heavy throbbing in his head coming in waves, and rather strongly at that, too. His core burned so hotly amongst his thoughts of revenge. He wanted to blow something up, to destroy, _to annihilate._ He also wanted Metal to soothe his agitated wires and to tell him nice, comforting things. He wanted both at the same time and it left him feeling confused and angry. 

Oblivious to the world around him, Crash didn’t immediately notice his partner was looking at him and putting his hands on his rapidly-twitching drills. Metal’s mask retracted and he saw him speak, but he couldn’t quite hear what he was saying at first. But soon enough, his audio receptors began to faintly register the hushed whispers that were uttered out of Metal’s scarred mouth. “Crash, just breathe,” He told him, “We know how you feel…” Crash couldn’t stop his drills’ twitching, but he did shuffle closer to Metal, who craned his neck to peek at the scene unfolding before them. 

“Dr. Wily, how are you calling us right now?” Rock asked angrily, pointing at the large monitor that showcased the offending elderly man’s face. Metal couldn’t help but notice how much older he looked, despite only five years having passed. How much… unhealthier he looked… Was this the toll he paid for starting nine robot wars? “How did you escape prison this time?!” He demanded. 

The man responsible for causing mankind and robotkind alike so much grief and suffering gazed down at his arch nemesis seemingly apathetic at first. “You humor me, Megaman,” He spat at him, before his bushy moustache curved up, his old skin wrinkling upwards in a sick kind of glee as he exposed his trademark grin at him, “Did you honestly believe that I could be put behind bars?” 

“You were captured!” Dr. Light exclaimed, frustration and upset written all over his face. “We sent Concrete Man after you! We had received a report from the police! You were quarantined!” 

Dr. Wily snorted and his grin widened. “And you actually thought for even a moment that your Guts Man-modelled robot could capture me? If you can’t figure it out, he never caught me.” He snorted again. “And what you mean to say is that you received a report from Fake Man. That was my last order to him before he was scrapped.” He glanced away for a moment. “‘Glad to see at least _one_ of my robots could follow their orders through and through.” 

“You scrapped him?! But he followed every one of your orders! At least from your end, he’s done nothing wrong to deserve that!” Rock said, becoming visibly upset now. His core began to burn with both pain and the desire to deliver justice. Dr. Light placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“How I treat _my_ robots should be absolutely none of your concern.” Dr. Wily spat at the two of them. “But, since your suffering brings me joy… he was no longer useful to me. If a Robot Master I created can’t serve me, then why have them active? Then why did I create them in the first place?” Metal flinched at the doctor’s cold words. He could feel his core and breathing speed up with anxiety. “He only became incompetent the longer I kept him around.” Crash flinched as well and began to shiver and tremble. Metal grabbed one of his twitching drills. God, Metal thought, Flash was absolutely, one hundred percent right… 

“You’re cruel!” Rock cried out. “You’re rotten and evil! I can’t believe you woul--” Dr. Light’s hand tightened against his shoulder, and the Blue Bomber quieted down. The sickly doctor’s mouth tightened into a straight line and he looked directly at his former colleague. His brows furrowed. 

“Albert,” Dr. Light began, speaking slowly and carefully. “Surely, you must have called us for a reason. What do you want? And how are you even calling us right now?” 

“He’s probably built another Wily Castle by now…” Rock murmured, before raising his voice. “Are you going to try to declare war on us again?” 

The bitter doctor paused for but a moment, glaring at Megaman, before smiling that wicked smile of his again. “You would like to hear that by now, wouldn’t you?” Dr. Light glanced over at his monitors and tried to gesture Rock away to the computers, but not before his rival noticed. “And don’t try to trace the source of this call. This computer is under the radar, hehehehe!” He cackled before coughing into his hand. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped at his mouth. “That’s not the reason why I am calling you two.” 

“Then why?!” Rock demanded. 

“Quiet, you.” Dr. Wily commanded towards Rock. He then focused his attention on Dr. Light. His face turned the most serious that the Wilybots had ever seen. “I’ve just… been around, and I’ve been wondering about this for a little while now, Thomas. Please, do be honest with me. I just need to know.” His face then grew into something unnervingly menacing, something that Metal has only seen on his worst days. Something Flash has only witnessed once in his life. Something that Crash has never seen. He quivered. Wily spoke with conviction in his tone. 

_“Have you been tampering with my robots?”_

Silence. 

Everybody in the room went silent for a minute as the doctor’s words sunk in. It was almost as if right at that moment, the room dropped a few degrees colder from the chills they felt in his life. Dr. Light’s body stiffened and his mouth was set in a firm line. His fists tightened and loosened as he began to sweat. His brows furrowed as he began to argue within himself again. He did not crumble underneath the pressure of the look Wily gave him on the giant monitor, but something else easily could do the trick… 

Rock looked up at his father and grimaced. Oh no, he thought nervously. Dr. Light can’t lie. He hates lying. Even if it’s to a huge offending liar like Dr. Wily. But… but if he tells the truth, then… Rock’s eyes flitted over to the three Wilybots that hid in the corner of the lab. The looks on their faces… They looked absolutely terrified. Flash’s eyes met with Rock’s for only a split second, but Rock could read everything those eyes conveyed to him. _Help us. Please._ Rock shook his head and looked up at Dr. Wily. “Dr. Light would never do something like that! Why would he even want your robots anyways?!” Rock easily lied. 

“Shut up, Megaman. I want to hear Thomas say it.” Wily barked at him. He then peered down at Dr. Light with such an intense gaze. Light’s lips tightened more and he scratched at his nose. He wringed his hands together. He just has to lie, just one lie. For the Wilybots’ sake. So that their experiment can continue. So that they can continue living their own lives and to be happy. No. No, he was not going to allow Dr. Wily to interfere with his subjects’ lives nor his progress on X! He was not going to allow Dr. Wily to undo everything that has been happening within the past few months! He’s not going to let Dr. Wily have his own way again!

Dr. Light’s mouth began to contort. The urge to cough was rising, but he forced it down for now. Just lie. All you have to do is lie. Just one time. Lying is good just this one time-- 

_“Well?”_

Lie, damnit! “...No. I haven’t tampered with any of your robots,” Light lied, speaking slowly and carefully again. “...Why do you ask?” 

Dr. Wily’s face calmed for a moment, as he pursed his lips. He leaned back against the chair he sat in and fumbled with a drawer off-camera. “I’ve just noticed a couple of peculiar things that would make me believe it so.” He pulled up a newspaper and held it in one hand. He then pulled out a polaroid photo and compared it side by side to the newspaper for himself. “Don’t you think it’s peculiar that that rising criminal mastermind the media loves to run their mouth about… oh, what was it again? Cedric Mandez? That his face looks staggeringly identical to Crash Man’s?” He casually considered aloud. Crash’s core dropped into his robotic gut and he froze in place, pale-faced. Metal instinctively pulled the drillbot closer to himself. 

Dr. Light blinked slowly and remained unresponsive. Rock’s eyes flitted over to the Wilybots again before he spoke up for him. “That could be just coincidence, for all we know. I highly doubt it’d be Crash Man. I haven’t seen Crash Man in over five years--” 

“You LIE!” Wily suddenly yelled, his voice becoming very aggressive, loud, and grating on the ears. “That is unmistakably Crash Man, I built that face myself! I installed those audio receptors, placed every fiber of hair on that head, picked out those eyes, added every freckle on his face! _I made him!_ You doubt a creator on recognizing his own creations?” Crash by now was leaning his face against Metal’s chest, quivering and shaking hard. Metal held him with trembling hands while Flash put a hand on Crash’s back and kept watching. Their cores all felt like still ice. “Not to forget as well that he has appeared suspiciously close to the station that I assigned Flash Man to, and that he has never been seen without a robot by his side either.” 

Dr. Light put his hands in his coat pockets and grabbed at the inner fabric over and over, as they were only getting sweatier. He cleared his throat. “...I’m sorry, Albert. But I have never touched your robots. Perhaps somebody else may have gotten to them, since you tend you leave your failed creations littered around anyways.” 

Dr. Wily grinded his teeth. “Who else would’ve repaired my robots, Thomas? They’re Robot Masters. Most of the world is still too incompetent to even handle the concept of a Mettaur being able to pilot a vehicle. Are you suggesting that stupid _schlappschwanz_ of a scientist Cossack touched my robots then? Or perhaps Astil…” He thought about it, putting a hand to his chin. He began to think about all the scientists that have built Robot Masters… 

Dr. Light could feel himself sweating through his work shirt at this point. He swallowed and spoke slowly again. “I don’t know who did it. I’m sorry that somebody’s done this to you.” 

His eternal rival and regretfully arch nemesis snorted again. “Pah! Don’t you dare give me your pity. I’m going to find out who has been using my robots. And they are going to pay.” He said, vengeance lacing his voice. Rock’s eyes flitted over to the Wilybots again and very subtly, his hand that rested at the side of his body shifted into a thumbs up for a second. Flash and Metal could not have felt more grateful in their entire lives than right then. However… “Megaman, why do you keep looking in that direction?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Rock interjected. 

“You stole my robots!” Wily accused the two. 

“We didn’t steal your robots!” Rock yelled back at him. 

“Yes you did!” 

“Albert, I-I’m certain that we did not steal your robots.” Dr. Light tried to say a little confidently. 

“You stuttered. You stole my robots.” 

“Please, Albert. It is getting late, and I am not going to repeat myself any further. We did not steal your robots. If there is nothing else you want to say, I’m going to hang up this phone call now.” Dr. Light stated firmly, frowning. 

Dr. Wily narrowed his eyes at his former friend and colleague. He looked at the two of them suspiciously for a minute before huffing. “FINE. But the next time I see you, I WILL take over the world, and I will crush your stupid, infernal Megaman with a loud, loud crunch.” 

“So be it. Good night.” Dr. Light, slowly making his way over to the main computer’s great keyboard. Relief flooded through Rock as he closed his eyes. Crash still trembled in Metal’s weak embrace, but the cutter robot looked down at his partner and flashed him a small smile, if only to comfort him. He felt like he could finally move his body again… He lifted a metallic hand to Crash’s jaw and caressed his jawline softly. _There, there. We’re gonna be okay now. We’re safe._ Metal exhaled softly in relief as Crash began to calm his circuits and close his eyes. 

Flash looked over at Megaman and never in all of his years active would he ever feel grateful towards him like he was right now. His hand rubbed Crash’s back slowly. He let out a shaky breath and wore a small smile on his face. “Wow,” he whispered to his brethren, “That went along way smoother than I thought it--” 

Ding. 

Just before Dr. Light hit the end call command on his keyboard, the sound of the elevator rang loudly and clearly through the air. Dr. Light hesitated and Dr. Wily paused as well. 

Following the elevator ding sounded metallic pattering footsteps that were way too rapid for any normal robot. Flash’s face contorted into a look of absolute horror. 

“DOC! Doc! Holy shit, you’re never going to believe what just happened outside!!” Quick Man rocketed towards the sickly doctor and directly into the line of sight of giant monitor’s video camera. He was drenched from the rain. Metal and Crash opened their eyes and looked at their scarlet brother, before their eyes turned huge with shock. 

“Oh god--” Crash barely choked out. “No…” 

“O-of course…” Metal said in a hushed whisper, starting to shiver again. 

Flash held his face in his hands and peeked between his fingers. His lips quivered. Oh god no. No no no no no this did not just happen NO QUICK NO WHY NO NO NO I JUST HAD TO OPEN MY MOUTH, DIDN’T I? He trembled in place. 

Quick, unaware of his brothers hiding and now dying internally, sported a grin on his face. “Doc, there was a robot watching me while I ran! I swear, he was following me and I’ve never seen this robot before, so I threw a boomerang at him and hit ‘em in the head, but then when I went to go check on him, he wasn’t there anymore? It was like he just… vanished? Anyways, I did get a peek at what he looked like. So he had this-- ...why are you staring at me like you saw a ghost?” Dr. Light and Rock both stared at Quick wide-eyed and pale-faced. 

“Hello, Quick Man.” A very familiar and haunting voice boomed through the room. Quick knew that voice anywhere and he nearly jumped out of his synthetic skin and metallic body. He whirled around and spotted Dr. Wily on the huge monitor. And he did not look happy. The speedy robot let out a rather unmanly yelp and jumped in place again, before taking a step back. He looked up at his former master with huge eyes. 

“A-ah-- H-h-hey t-there, D-Doc,” Quick began to stutter harshly. If he could sweat like Flash, he would be even more drenched than he was right now. He felt like his body was completely frozen in place, like his feet were welded to the ground. He felt like a deer in the headlights, and his circuits raced faster than they did all day today.

“That’s Dr. Wily to you.” The bitter doctor spoke slowly and venomously. 

“D-Dr. W-Wily. Right.” Quick repeated, shakily nodding his head. 

Dr. Wily then sneered at the sweating Dr. Light, before looking so disappointed in him. “...Hmph. I didn’t think you actually had it in you. I should’ve been more careful. If it weren’t for Quick Man being so quick, I was actually about to believe you for a moment.” He spat at the sickly doctor before he spoke lowly. “You’re a filthy liar, Thomas.” Dr. Light flinched at his words, staring at Dr. Wily wide-eyed. “A filthy liar and a dirty robot stealer.” He then grinned in a sickening fashion. “You’re no better than I am, aren’t you? You just pretend to be a goodie two-shoes, but when no one else is looking, you go ahead and steal my robots. If anything, stealing my robots would just make you look even better now, would it? You might just be as brilliant as me…” 

Rock was on the other side of Quick by now and subtly tugged at his arm. Quick’s eyes flitted down to him, before noticing his partner and brothers hiding behind the computer towers. They all looked even more terrified than they ever did before. It didn’t even take a few seconds for Quick to piece together what he had just done, and then his core dropped into his robotic gut, and his circuits felt like something icy had completely frozen over them. “Oh god, I fucked up.” Quick mumbled barely audibly. Rock vigorously nodded his head in agreement. 

Dr. Light stared up at Dr. Wily, his blood having frozen over from being caught red-handed of both tampering with his robots AND lying. God, why did he ever answer this call in the first place? Was it the right thing to do? Was using Dr. Wily’s robots a right thing to do in the first place? Was… was Dr. Wily right? But, a voice answered within his head, but that can’t be. You’ve made so much progress on your experiment because of this! You’ve given these Wilybots a taste of what having their own lives is like! And they’ve become happier because of this! Most of them never once mentioned anything about siding with Wily once! This had to have been the right thing! Well, maybe not lying, persay, but… His fists tightened. No. He’s made his own decision and now he is going to stand by it. He will not allow Dr. Wily to force his way into this experiment. 

“I did lie.” Light stated suddenly. Everyone looked at him. “You’ve caught me. I never was good at lying, anyways.” 

“You’re certainly right with that.” Wily spat at him, before turning to his creation. Quick felt the weight of his blown-up gaze on him, and he felt like shrinking inside him. He felt so small right then, and he absolutely hated the feeling. He felt cold and tiny and like an asshole now because all of his brothers were trying to hide and HE JUST RUINED IT-- “How are you, Quick Man?” 

Quick stared at the man he’s had to take orders from his entire life in slight disbelief. He might have maybe remembered him asking him that question maybe one other time in his life? Still… He clenched and unclenched his hands and spoke quietly, his voice having become a small squeak compared to his usually boisterous tone. “...I-I’ve been o-okay. Y-yourself?” 

“I’ve been in better moods. It’s been a while.” Dr. Wily admitted to his own Wilybot. 

“S-same.” Quick answered too quickly. He trembled in place. He didn’t know what to do or what to say. All he could do was stare into the face of the man who both gave him life and ended his life. His brothers watched from afar with huge, frightened eyes. It was almost as if time were moving much too slow for all of them. 

“How long have you been active?” He asked. 

“N-not too long.” Quick answered rather vaguely on purpose. Dr. Wily narrowed his eyes at him and he felt like shrinking some more. 

“Hm.” Wily said, gazing down at his creation. “Tell me. What is life like as a Lightbot?” He said slowly, with contempt and disgust in his tone. 

“I’m not a L-Lightbot.” Quick blurted out. His eyes flitted towards Rock and Dr. Light, who stared at him with tight-lipped mouths and furrowed brows, and then towards his brethren, who were staring at him with frightened gazes. The scarlet Robot Master took a deep breath. My brothers are scared. I’m scared, too. … …But I have to be brave right now. I have to be strong, for them. Robot Masters keep fighting no matter what. He breathed deeply. “I’m not a Lightbot.” He said more confidently. 

His creator lifted a furry eyebrow at him. “Oh really now? If you’re not a Lightbot right now, then why are you here?” He asked. 

Quick’s mouth straightened into a firm line. Ah, shit. “...I don’t know.” He said. 

“That’s a lie.” 

 

“I-I r-really don’t know!” 

“Where are your ‘brothers?’” He suddenly asked. 

“I-I don’t k-know. I-I haven’t s-seen any of my brothers.” Quick stammered in place, feeling his inner strength weaken ever so slightly the longer he had to talk to Dr. Wily. His hands came together and wringed against one another.

“That’s also a lie.” 

“N-no, it’s not.” Quick retorted, swallowing hard and wringing his hands faster. His breathing began to quicken. God, why was lying on the spot so nerve-wracking? He hated it. He hated lying in general. It made him feel so dirty and scummy… 

Dr. Wily paused, looking over him up and down. “I see you were modified, as well. Isn’t that right, Thomas?” He said with such harshness and emphasis on the last word, looking at Dr. Light, who flinched again. His attention returned to Quick Man. “...I presume that at least Flash Man must be nearby if you’re here.” He said to the speedy Robot Master, who in turn felt his body become icy cold at the mention of his partner. His wide eyes widened more. Off in the corner of the lab, Flash felt electric chills overwhelm himself at the mention of his name and he froze. Crash looked at him worriedly and Metal instinctively reached for Flash’s hand. 

Quick blinked rapidly before shaking his head no. “F-F-Flash? N-Nope, I-I haven’t seen him! I-I r-really meant that I haven’t seen a-any of my brothers, D-Doc!” He then beared an awkward grin at the doctor. 

Dr. Wily ended up shooting him a deadpanned look, before a small smile appeared on his face. “...Well in that case, is it safe to assume then that the engagement ring on your hand magically appeared out of thin air?” 

Quick’s pupils shrank before quickly glancing down at his hand where the blue ring gleamed against his red hand, and instinctively he hid his hand behind himself. “O-o-oh, this… t-this old th-thing…? A-ahaha… I-it’s n-nothing… r-really…” His core ached and throbbed at the thought of calling his ring ‘nothing.’ But then a thought suddenly crossed his mind and he furrowed his own brows. “W-wait. But how did you know that I got this ring after I was reactivated?” The distant sound of a facepalm cut through the quiet air. 

“Because you just _told me.”_ Dr. Wily said, grinning. 

Quick took a moment to process what he just said and what it meant, before he ended up resting a hand on his face. Augh, stupid STUPID STUPID! He wanted to hit himself. Dr. Wily cackled. “You were never good at lying.” He sneered at the scarlet robot. “And I’ve already known about you and Flash Man being a couple long before you were destroyed.” 

He looked up at his creator, stunned and taken aback. “You… y-you did?” Flash’s eyes widened huge. He did…? 

“Yes. You two weren’t very good at hiding it.” 

“Oh…” Quick muttered, feeling like the biggest idiot now. All those months of trying to hide it! Dr. Wily already KNEW! And he didn’t do anything about it! They hid themselves away for nothing! All of those missed opportunities to just be together… He wanted to punch something right then and there.

“Quick Man, you silly robot.” Dr. Wily sighed. “Robots can’t get married. They never will be able to.” 

Quick’s core sank deeper in his chest at his master’s words. This wasn’t any new news to him, but… “...I know. I-I already know that. I-I just thought… that i-it was the thought that counted, r-right?” He admitted, before sadly smiling. Elsewhere in the lab, Flash’s core ached equally as bad and he pined for nothing more than to just hold Quick right then. 

Dr. Wily’s smile then turned sickly. “Isn’t that so sweet?” He cooed, making everybody in the room feel uncomfortable. He then coughed into his handkerchief again and cleared his throat. “I’ve got good news for you then. I want you to locate Flash Man as soon as you can and then I will give you coordinates to where my newest base is located. The two of you are to report to me as soon as possible on your progress and I will assign the both of you a new mission together.” 

Quick blinked at him, wide-eyed. Is… is he…? After all these years… NOW Dr. Wily wants to give us orders again?! Only after somebody else recovered us? After abandoning us like garbage for years? That’s right, he abandoned us! Why is he caring now all of a sudden? Something began to well up inside Quick Man, something burning and invasive and hot. Crash’s words and his own advice echoed in his head. Why should we care? 

“But first, I want you to destroy this lab. That’s an order. Understood?” Dr. Wily commanded him. 

Quick barely nodded. “Y--” But then he paused. _Wait._ Why was he about to say yes to that?! Was… was he just so used to following his orders around like a damn dog that he barely even thought twice about it? _WAIT._ He didn’t immediately follow through with his order! Is this what Flash was talking about before with the experiment they were a part of? Could… could he make his own decisions? Truly? He went quiet and blinked at Dr. Wily, hesitant. 

Dr. Light carefully watched Quick Man. This was it. This moment was absolutely pivotal to his experiment. This is the moment that he has been waiting months for. To see what choices the Wilybots he’s watched over were about to make. To see if they were capable of making a decision of this level of gravity on their own. If they were capable of defying a human master’s orders. He wondered if Quick Man understood the gravity of his situation right now. If whatever decision he will make would affect his brethren as well, and have some influence over their decisions as well. 

Quick glanced at Rock who stood beside him. The Blue Bomber’s eyes met with Quick’s and… he had absolutely no idea what he could’ve told the scarlet Wilybot right then and there. Quick’s wide eyes glazed over to Wily, who waited impatiently for him with a lifted eyebrow. He then turned his head and looked over at his family. Crash looked at him with fearful, worried eyes. Metal was wide-eyed and was shaking his head no at him. And Flash… Flash looked so pained right then. Quick’s wires twisted up at the sight and he shakily clutched his robotic stomach. He… he had to tell Dr. Wily no. He wasn’t going to abandon Metal or Crash. He wasn’t going to break Flash’s core. He’s only been active for a few hours and yet, he felt like he’s had more power and freedom than he has in his entire life before that. And he liked it. He had the freedom of being together with Flash as much as he wanted like this. He had the safety of not working in dangerous missions for Dr. Wily. He had the relief of no longer being fated to get himself killed by Megaman anymore. For god’s sakes, he ended up having friendly spars with him today! He ate food today! His partner got his letter! That actually happened! He knew so little about this experiment, and yet, he felt like it’s given him so much more life than working for the old doctor ever has. 

“Quick Man? Did you hear me? I said that was an order.” Dr. Wily said over the video feed. The scarlet Robot Master stood there, deep in thought. 

…N-no. No, I can’t do it. I can’t. My family needs me. They’re scared and lost and they need me with them. They mean so much to me. I can’t endanger them again. Haven’t we died twice already? Haven’t we been through enough pain and frustration? I don’t want them to get hurt again. I refuse to let them get hurt again because of stupid orders. It’s time to move on. It’s time to start doing what we want to do! 

_“Quick Man? Did your audio receptors give out?”_ Dr. Wily began to grow irritated, waiting for the scarlet robot to respond. 

I have to be brave, Quick thought to himself. I have to be brave for them. I have to be strong enough to tell him no. I can do this. I can do this, I can do this! Robot Masters keep fighting no matter what. I know I’m scared, but I have to bite the bullet anyways! I’m not going to give in today! He looked back at his brethren again and they were watching him carefully. He glanced at Rock and Dr. Light and they did the same. 

_“Quick Man!”_

Quick took a deep breath. This is the moment that we’ve all been reactivated for. He swallowed his fears and he scowled at the monitor. He pointed at his old master, before his strong posture faltered slightly. “N-- ...n-no,” he ended up squeaking out quietly instead of declaring valiantly. 

The entire room went quiet. Rock stared at Quick with huge, surprised eyes. 

“I didn’t quite hear that, _what was that?”_ Dr. Wily said in disbelief. 

Quick ceased his trembling and he straightened his posture. He pointed stronger and more confidently at Dr. Wily. “I said no. I’m not going to destroy this place.” He spoke up louder and more clearly. 

His creator stared at him and blinked. Flash, Metal, and Crash watched from behind the towers in awe. Quick Man just told him no. He just refused an order! Crash couldn’t help but feel nothing but sheer amazement towards his brother. Flash could feel his core beginning to unthaw and warm up a little. Metal carefully watched out of pure astonishment and curiosity. However, their former master grew a foul expression on his face. “What did you just say?” He said, a hint of warning in his voice. 

“D-did I stutter that time?” Quick stuttered, before the smallest hint of his notorious smirk grew on his face. “I said NO. N-O. _Nein._ I’m not destroying this lab or any place you tell me to!” 

Dr. Wily’s face then flared up in sheer, pure anger. Quick’s body began to tremble again. A part of him told him this was a horrible idea, and another part of him kept urging him on. “You are out of line…” The old, bitter doctor spat at him in a venomous tone. “You are going to destroy this lab and then report to me. That’s AN ORDER. I AM ORDERING YOU. UNDERSTOOD?” He commanded more harshly. 

Quick did tremble, but his core and CPU both screamed at him not to give in. He lifted his trembling arms and crossed them, and then stared at the monitor screen silently. Dr. Wily stared at him, fuming mad and impatient, before his eyes widened and he looked at Dr. Light. 

_“Thomas, what have you done?”_ He asked in angry shock. His rival was trying hard to contain the smile that was threatening to grow on his bearded face. 

“I simply allowed him to make his own decisions.” Dr. Light explained. 

“Thomas, you are a FOOL. Haven’t you learned from what happened last time?!” Dr. Wily yelled. “Was that not enough for you to get through your thick cranium?! Robots aren’t humans. They never will be! Not even Bl--” 

“I know. They will never be humans, but that doesn’t mean they are incapable of living like humans. This doesn’t mean that they are incapable of doing everything that a human could, and being on equal terms with one.” He retorted. 

“Yeah, Doc! What… uh… the other Doc said!” Quick added, grinning. 

“Quiet.” Wily commanded at the robot, whom he shut his mouth rather quickly. His anger then turned towards his creation. “I don’t think you quite understand what your position is, Quick Man.” He began, his face growing foul and in Quick’s opinion, incredibly ugly. “You are my creation, my weapon, and my child. I made you. Once you are a Wilybot, you are always a Wilybot. You cannot erase or ignore that fact. I will always own you. And you will listen to my every word and command. You belong to me.” 

Quick smirked back at his creator. “Yeah, that’s mostly true, except I don’t think I’m gonna listen to you anymore. I’m my own owner from now on. You can’t stop me.” 

“Oh yes, I can, easily.” Wily spat back at him. “You may have free will right now, but you will regret the decision to defy me in due time. You do not want to make an enemy out of me. You won’t escape me--” 

**You won’t escape me this time.**

Suddenly, Quick’s smirk dropped off of his face faster than a bullet and his eyes widened. His body stiffened and he looked around. He… wasn’t in Dr. Light’s lab anymore… Everything was dark… 

He couldn’t hear Dr. Wily yelling at him clearly anymore. It soon began to turn hazy to him and his receptors. 

“...a… ...uick Ma… you… ...pid, spo…” 

Quick turned silent and listened to Dr. Wily ramble on threateningly about how will always belong to him and how it’s a waste of time to try to make his own choices. His brethren wondered how he could just sit there and take all of those insults and threats. Flash carefully watched Quick, though. Upon closer inspection, he saw his knees beginning to quiver, and the temporal robot’s eyes widened. He looked at Quick’s face. The scarlet Robot Master seemed to be staring through Dr. Wily. “Quick…” Flash whispered worriedly, his grip on the computer servers tightening significantly. Dr. Wily continued on in his fit of rage. 

“...Honestly, it’s stupid scheisse like this that just adds to the list of reasons why I’ve been building less and less robots in the first place. Because you think that you can do whatever you want! ...Maybe I should have stuck to stealing robots rather than building them. Maybe I never should have built--” 

**I never should have built you.**

Suddenly, a dim light turned on above Quick. He was on the floor. He couldn’t move. His breathing hitched and became unsteady. Fear and mechanical adrenaline began to race through his body. He saw something gleam above him… He wanted to scream, but he couldn’t open his mouth. 

… 

Rock stared at Quick, who stood there, silent and frozen in place. Something wasn’t right. He glanced at Flash, who looked very distraught and was practically crushing the computer server tower in his grip. Something definitely wasn’t right. 

Flash stared at Quick and he began to tremble, but not with fear this time. He needed to be there. He needed to be by his side. Quick needed him. He noticed his partner’s knees began to quiver much harder, and his pupils beginning to shrink and dilate rapidly. He couldn’t bare to watch any longer. 

Fuck it, Flash thought, before suddenly bolting towards Quick and joining his side. “Doctor Wily, that’s enough from you.” He said, pointing his white hand at the monitor. His yellow hand grabbed for Quick’s and he gave the speedy robot’s hand two distinct squeezes. _Squeeze my hand, Quick._ His partner immediately responded by almost crushing Flash’s hand in his grip. His breathing was quick and uneven. “I’m here,” Flash whispered to him, “I’m right here. You’re with me. I’m with you.” 

“Ah-- Flash Man, there you are.” Dr. Wily said bitterly. “Let me guess. You’re going to decide to disobey me as well?” 

“That’s correct.” Flash spat back angrily at his master. “Anything that Quick decides is good enough for me, too. You don’t deserve to have us as your children anyways!” He glanced over at Crash and Metal, who stared wide-eyed at him over the fact that he just RAN FROM THEIR HIDING SPOT. But to their surprise, Flash beckoned them over. Metal and Crash looked at each other. Crash put a drill tip his his chin and contemplated for a moment, before making up his mind and joining the two. 

“And there’s Crash Man, too! Just how many robots of mine did you steal, Thomas?” Wily growled at the other doctor in the room. 

“Yeah, you don’t deserve us again! You lost your chance the moment you thought ‘Oh hey, I’m just gonna LEAVE MY ROBOTS EVERYWHERE! And never take them back! Just leave them there like garbage!’ Because we’re garbage, right?!” Crash barked angrily, pointing a drill at the monitor as well. 

Dr. Light and Rock stared at the scene unfolding before them. Never in a thousand years would they’d ever think that they would witness Wilybots defying Wily before their very eyes… But here we are. Flash soon felt Quick give three distinct squeezes to his hand in a row. _I need you._ Flash squeezed his hand back and murmured more to him. “You’re not there anymore. It’s gonna be okay. I’m with you now.” He entwined his metallic fingers in Quick’s trembling ones. 

“You don’t care about us and you have no reason to start caring anytime soon!” Crash yelled angrily, becoming more and more upset. “You never cared!” Soon enough, Metal hesitantly joined them as well. 

“And Metal Man, too,” Wily commented, “Of course.” 

“What Crash says is right, you know.” Metal began, pushing down his anxiety and nervousness. All of them were in this together. They were going to endure this together. “You never cared for us, otherwise you would’ve given us a better purpose other than simply to die twice against Megaman.” Flash began to rub his thumb along Quick’s hand, still murmuring comforting words to him. Quick blinked a few times and began to recollect himself. “If you cared, you wouldn’t have abandoned us! And gave our lives away just so you could stall for enough time to allow for solely your own selfish escape! So you know what? We’re not going to continue being your children or your tools anymore. We’ve got our own lives to life.” Metal huffed. 

“What do _any of you_ know about living?! None of you have even lived for a year yet!” Dr. Wily shouted at them. 

Quick shook his head and looked up at the monitor, before he smirked. “Apparently more than you, you… y-you…. _slow…!”_ He started up, and then looked over at his brethren to keep it up. 

“Unforgivable!” Metal added. 

“HEAP OF SCRAP!” Crash shouted, finishing the insult train. Dr. Wily’s face then contorted and shapeshifted into something absolutely terrifying amongst his fury. All four Wilybots’ eyes became huge upon seeing this and right before Dr. Wily opened his mouth, the computer monitor… suddenly was broken? The call had abruptly ended due the computer monitor having many holes in it due to a scattershot-type buster firing off. Metal and Crash looked over at Flash, who sparkled and twinkled. Quick, however, slowly collapsed after a few seconds. Flash immediately caught him in his arms, and lowered himself onto his knees, his face growing worried and concerned. 

“F-Flash…” Quick said weakly. “Time S-Stopper…” 

“O-oh god, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry,” Flash said, feeling horrible, “I-I got scared and I panicked and I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to use it, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” He held Quick close to his body, which the scarlet Robot Master simply just nuzzled and leaned against his chest. He murmured ‘It’s okay’ at him in a barely audible volume. Flash’s words became hushed. “Quick, are you okay…? I saw… I-I saw before, you were…” 

Metal, Crash, and Rock were immediately at Quick’s side. “Quick, w-what happened?” Metal asked, unsure of what he saw earlier. “Are you alright?” 

“Quick Man, w-what happened to you before?” Rock asked, confused but worried. 

Quick opened his eyes and gazed up at Flash before looking at everyone else. He offered a small smirk. “I’m alright, guys. Don’t worry about it. I’m okay now.” 

“A-are you sure you’re okay?” Crash asked, worried. 

Quick simply gave him a weak thumbs up before leaning back against Flash. However, his smirk soon morphed into a frown and his eyelids drooped. “I’m not really sure if we’re okay, though.” He murmured. “We all just disobeyed Dr. Wily…” 

His brethren were quiet for a moment, letting that sink in before the gravity of their actions hit them harder than a car. “Oh my god, we disobeyed Dr. Wily…” Metal breathed, eyes widening again. “We even _insulted him.”_

“He’s going to scrap us,” Crash whimpered, beginning to tremble again. “He’s going to find us and scrap us… I-I don’t want to be scrapped…” Metal wrapped his arms around Crash and held him. They both soon became a trembling mess. 

Quick looked up at Flash. “Bah… this is all my fault, huh? If I had taken my sweet time to head down here, instead…” He murmured, but Flash shook his head. 

“No. N-no, this was going to happen s-sooner or later, regardless.” Flash breathed, before beginning to tremble himself. “He knows about us… He knows that we’ve been hanging around Dr. Light and Megaman… We just told him off in Dr. Light’s lab…” His body shook and Quick tiredly lifted a hand to Flash’s cheek. The blue Robot Master leaned into it lightly. “...We’re Lightbots now, aren’t we?” 

“I-I don’t want to be a Lightbot!” Crash cried out against Metal. 

“GOD, no, anything but that.” Metal huffed, shaking. “Well, we’ll be Lightbots if Dr. Wily decides not to seek after our asses and scrap us first.” 

“I DON’T WANT TO DIE ANYMORE!” Crash yelled in a panic against his partner’s chest armor. Quick shivered in Flash’s arms. 

The four Wilybots have all become frightened, shaking messes around one another. Rock wanted to make them feel better, but he didn’t know what to say. He’s… he’s never dealt with this kind of situation before in his entire existence. He’s still trying to wrap his CPU around the fact that these four Robot Masters, 4 from the 2nd Generation, four of Wily’s own line, just defied him and tried to assert their independence from him. Did that really just happen? He looked over at his own father, Dr. Light, for help. The sickly doctor watched between the four Robot Masters who were so confused and frightened that it overwhelmed them, and he very slowly made his way over to them. 

“A-ahem.” Light cleared his throat, before coughing lightly. “Boys…?” Crash was becoming hysterical. Flash felt like he was on the brink of crying. Metal felt like entering the void and staying there forever at that point. Quick was shivering. “Boys?” He said more clearly. He walked over to Metal and Crash and he placed a hand on the cutter robot’s shoulder. 

Metal flinched and whipped his head towards the sickly doctor. There was a look of panic and anxiety written all over his face, despite wearing a mask that covered most of said face. “Doctor, i-it was nice knowing you. I-I just wanna say that… t-that I actually enjoyed being part of this experiment, a-and thank you…” He whimpered. Crash agreed and nodded his head as well against Metal. Light let out a soft sigh and looked at him sadly, before smiling. 

“Don’t say that. You’re not going to be scrapped nor captured.” He reassured them. Metal’s receptor extensions twitched at his words. “None of you are going to be hurt by him. I refuse to allow it to happen. This experiment is much too important for both the four of you and myself as well to go to waste or to be undone by Dr. Wily. I will not allow him to lay a hand on any of you to the best of my power.” 

Metal’s eyes showed confusion in them. “You… b-but… we’re Wilybots. We’re his creations. We all tried to kill Megaman! W-why would you want to pr-protect…” 

Crash shuddered against his partner. “Doc, a-are w-we Lightbots now? Is that w-why?” 

“No, that is not why. And none of you are Lightbots. You are still Wilybots, and will always be. However, it is entirely your decision if you wish to join my family or not. Ever since I have reactivated you all, you have been carving out your own path and your own future. And I could not be any prouder of you.” He then smiled warmly at them. 

Crash, Flash, and Quick looked up at him. “W-why are you proud of us?” Flash stammered. “I don’t… I-I don’t understand… We’ve just made enemies of our own creator…” 

Dr. Light simply smiled his comforting, homey smile towards the temporal robot and held his hand out. Flash hesitated, before taking it and carefully getting up and helping Quick onto his feet. Quick was unbalanced and dizzy, and ended up leaning against Flash. “It’s because you had the will to tell him no. The four of you choose to follow what was more important to you all, over direct orders given to you! I doubt that would’ve ever been possible for you five years ago, am I correct?” The four brothers were still and quiet, before Quick nodded his head. “The four of you choose each other, your family, over your master. Your desire to remain together allowed you to defy a human’s orders and help shape your own life that you wish to live. You possessed that capability and spirit! I am so incredibly proud of all of you because of it.” 

Rock was by Dr. Light’s side, nodding and smiling widely in agreement. “I’ve NEVER seen that before. You told off Dr. Wily! Do you know how awesome that is?! I couldn’t even do that!” 

“It’s not the same for you, scraphead.” Quick said, “What we just did would be like if you told off Dr. Light.” 

Metal shuddered and rubbed his hand up and down Crash’s back. “Even if we did make our own decisions… I’m still scared. W-we don’t have a master anymore or a parent… or a-anyone to be there for us now. It’s j-just the four of us now… we’re alone…” Crash tried his best to hug Metal back. 

Rock coughed loudly into his hand, getting their attention, before gesturing towards Dr. Light. They all looked at him. Light only smiled brighter at the four Wilybots. “It’s come to my attention that Dr. Wily was not exactly the best parent to you four. I can understand that, since I used to work with him and…” Light paused, looking away for a moment, before he turned back to them. “...Anyways, I would not try to force anything upon you, but I must let you know that if you ever need somebody to talk to or need comfort from, I am always more than willing to help any robot in need. Regardless of their origin.” 

The four Wilybots processed what Light just told them for a few minutes. Eventually, one of them moved. Crash Man slowly pushed himself off of Metal Man and began to shuffle his way over to Dr. Light. He walked close enough so that he was inches away from him, before craning his head up and looking at Dr. Light. Crash looked conflicted and he scowled at himself. He then shuffled even closer and wordlessly pressed his body against Dr. Light’s. The sickly doctor looked down at the drillbot in surprise, before smiling sweetly and wrapping his arms around him and embracing him gently. Crash hesitantly lifted his arms up and attempted to hug him back. 

Metal watched him, before making up his own mind as well. His hands lifted up to his shoulders and he popped off his shoulder blades, before making his way over to hug Dr. Light as well. Soon enough, Flash hugged him too and then Quick sort of just leaned against all of them tiredly. Dr. Light beamed and tried his best to hug all of them. “Thanks, Doc,” he heard Crash mutter against him. “That means a lot.” Rock also beamed at the sight before him and walked over to try to join the hug as well, but ended up being kicked away lightly by Metal. 

“No. This is our hug, go away.” He hissed at the Blue Bomber. Rock frowned, looking down. 

“Doc…” Crash began in the hug pile. “I’m not really sure how to ask this or what you guys will think, but… d-do you think maybe… since Dr. Wily was a shitty dad anyways, maybe you could… be our better dad-but-not-really-dad?” His brothers looked at him with surprise. 

“Crash, are you sure…? I mean, Dr. Light is a good man, but…” Metal began. 

“Well, we already told Dr. Wily off and now he probably hates us, and we’re gonna live our own lives, so would it really be any worse?” Crash answered him. “I don’t like having no human to talk to or go to…” 

“Well…” Metal breathed, before sighing defeatedly and smiling. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt or be too much. Would you be opposed to it, Doctor?” 

Light simply shook his head no and flashed them the brightest smile he could muster right then. “Absolutely not in the least. I would be rather elated if you saw me in that way.” Crash then smiled widely and hugged Dr. Light more. 

“‘S settled then. ‘Doc’s our dad-but-not-really-dad now.” Quick murmured, before chuckling tiredly. He blinked rapidly. “Oh, also, Flash? Flashy? I feel like I’m gonna…” Flash whirled around just in time to catch a crumbling, collapsing Quick again. He held his partner against his body tightly. 

“Alright, you need an E-Tank. And a lot of rest. I think we all need to rest, actually,” Flash said, moving away from the hug pile. Immediately, Metal and Crash were by their sides. 

“Should I go get the car keys?” Metal asked him. 

“If you’d like to, you all can stay here for tonight. I’m certain we have enough room for four more robots,” Dr. Light mused. The four of them exhaled in relief. 

“Oh thank god. If I had to start driving again tonight…” Flash started. I probably would’ve crashed the car, he finished in his mind. He smiled softly. “Thank you, Doctor. F-for everything today.” He said to the sickly doctor. Quick gave a thumbs up in agreement. Light only smiled warmly at the Wilybots. 

“Rest well, okay? You’ve all had a long, long day. And a longer week.” 

“I’ll go get Roll and tell her to get some extra pillows and blankets, okay?” Rock said, heading towards the elevator. But before he went in, he turned back to the Wilybots. “I’m really proud of you guys. I’ve gained so much respect for you all today.” 

“Yeah, whatever.” They all said, before helping Quick back on his feet and being his supports all the way from the lab to the elevator to the comfortable couch that awaited them. When they reached the upper floor, there were already pillows and blankets and an E-Tank waiting on the couch for the Robot Masters, courtesy of Megaman’s lovely and awesome sister. Flash took the time to carefully lay Quick down against the pillows and cushions and handed him the E-Tank. Quick smirked and winked at his partner before downing the energy drink. 

“Phew…” Quick huffed, feeling his energy replenish and rebalance within himself. He then looked at his partner and smiled. “Thanks, sweetheart. C’mere~” He beckoned to the temporal robot. Metal and Crash looked at each before Roll got the both of their attentions and led the two of them upstairs. 

Flash patiently waited until everybody else left, before he smiled sweetly at Quick and carefully crawled on top of him. Quick wrapped his arms around him. “How’re ya feelin’?” He asked softly. 

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Flash murred. “You were losing yourself before…” His hand came up and caressed Quick’s jaw gently. “Are you going to be okay…?” 

Quick paused and went quiet, leaning into Flash’s touch. He finally felt like his core could relax and slow down after racing literally all day. His sky blue eyes met with Flash’s green eyes. “I feel like I’ll be okay this time. Well, actually, I feel like I’m always gonna be okay, now that I’m with ya, hehe~” He cooed, making the blue Wilybot flush red. 

“Q-Quiiick…” Flash whined, as his partner hugged him more snugly. 

“Today was good.” Quick said. “It was absolutely terrifying and it’s probably gonna bite us in the ass later, but it was absolutely worth it. …Wanna know why?” He flashed his partner a small little grin. 

Flash pouted. “Why?” He asked quietly. 

Quick’s grin then turned into a rather romantic smile. His voice was low. “Because we get to be together all the time now. I’d take this life of danger and fear over our previous one a million times over, since it means I can spend all of it with you.” He fluttered his eyes at him just as an extra touch. Flash’s core suddenly fluttered as well and tingly feelings spread throughout his circuits and wires. 

His face turned red and he buried his face in Quick’s chest. “Quick… don’t look at me like that… You’re too handsome…” He purred, causing the speedy Robot Master to giggle quietly. 

“Oops~” He smiled so widely at Flash. “Like you’re one to talk, really. What, with your cute face and those pretty eyes of yours and your sexy body…” He murmured sweetly, before gently grabbing one of Flash’s armored pectorals and one of his hips. Flash’s face burned red. 

“Oh, you stop that…” Flash cooed, smiling back at him. “We need to rest and recharge and sleep, and we’re not gonna do that anytime soon if you start to get me in the mood…” 

“I’m sorry babe, I’ve been deprived for over five years, heehee~” Quick giggled again. He was met with a look from Flash. And then a small finger point. 

“Another day. Not tonight.” Flash said, pouting again. “Try to control yourself, will you?” Soon enough, his mouth contorted up into a smile again. 

“Awww, okay, okay…” Quick cooed, before pulling the temporal robot closer. “None of that heavy stuff tonight, but can we still kiss at least? I’ve got five whole years of kissing to make up to you…” 

Flash then smiled widely at his partner. “Of course, we can. And I’ve got five whole years of sweet things to tell you, touches to give you, kisses… hugs… everything…” The two looked into each other’s eyes. Quick’s eyes were so, so beautiful, Flash thought. They were like a vibrant, clear sky to him. He could get lost in them. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. A wonderful, beautiful idea. _Not today, though. Another day._ He leaned down and met his lips with Quick’s, who kissed him so tenderly and gently that if he didn’t know him any better, he would’ve doubted it was Quick Man altogether. His core ached and felt so warm, and he kissed him so lovingly and softly. Quick embraced him again while Flash rested his arms on either side of Quick’s head. They locked lips over and over, murring and purringly quietly but happily, and soon got completely lost in their kissing. Despite not being in their warehouse or their Wily Castle, Flash felt safe, warm, and ‘at home.’ 

Quick was right, he thought to himself amongst their kisses. This was absolutely worth it. Today was good after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gaaaahhhh, that's Chapter 9, folks! It was a little more serious than the others, and a little shorter as well, and I'm really sorry but I feel like I did all that I could with this one. I hope it's not bad... Please comment and tell me your thoughts! I promise Chapter 10 will be much more fun, hehehehe~ 
> 
> Until next time, peeps!


	10. Core to Core

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M ALIVE GUYS   
> I'M HEREEE 
> 
> SCHOOL IS SOMEHOW -NOT- KICKING MY ASS THIS TIME????   
> I MADE THIS AND AND AAAHHHHH I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY THIS TIME I'M JUST REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS CHAPTER AND THAT IT'S ANOTHER LONG CHAPTER   
> I'M ALSO REALLY TIRED TOO I SPENT THE PAST THREE NIGHTS WRITING THIS NONSTOP   
> I HOPE IT'S GOOD PLEASE ENJOY

Birds chirped happily and sang their duets together, the echoes of their duality reaching across the forest and valley and small little mountains. The sweet peeps and whistles were also accompanied by the white noise of distant cars zooming down the highway bridge that towered high above the warehouse and trees. Surprisingly, neither sets of sounds became too obstructive towards one another, and instead, created a strange fusion of nature and mechanism. It became a familiar harmony. It was the sounds of home. 

Within the sturdy walls of the warehouse, a robot slept soundly with his family. He laid snuggled up against his partner, burying his face into his broad and hard chest, whilst said partner wrapped his arms around him. He mumbled something incoherent within his slumber and his extremities twitched softly. His body felt warm and comfortable and safe, and within his sleep, the robot was in another world…

~~~~~

_He stood in a field of flowers. The sun shined down incredibly brightly against him and the world around him, and yet, it didn’t irritate nor disrupt his optics in the slightest. He looked around in awe. He’s never seen this place before. How did he get here? Why was it so beautiful and calming? A warm breeze grazed his helmetless cheek. Not too far away stood his partner. He seemed lost. He called out to him… He couldn’t hear his own voice, but yet, his partner turned around regardless in surprise. He tried to call out to him again… but it was almost as if his voice was muted. And yet, his partner could hear him clearly._

_“I’m right here. How did you get here?” His partner answered, his voice loud and clear and just… nice to listen to. His voice was always so tenor and happy. Hearing his voice was like the sound of home to him. To see his smiles… that was the sight of home. And the feel of home… He lifted his arms, feeling unrestrained and alone together with his love, and ran towards him. His partner grinned and then did the same. They ran towards each other, crushing all of the flowers that stood in their way. The two of them soon collided with one another, and he lifted his partner up effortlessly. They spun around and around, laughing and giggling and grinning, until they both became dizzy and fell over, sprawled against the soft grassy bed and flowers that stretched across the infinite mass of land…_

_He rolled over and climbed on top of his partner. He was met with such a happy look from him… and his core welled up with so many emotions right then. Happiness… Gratitude… Comfort… Excitement… Love…_

_Love…_

_There was so much he wanted to tell him, so much his core yearned to let him know, over and over. It was almost overwhelming. How he was simply just an advanced robot, and yet, everything his core felt was so raw to him, so real, so strong… A part of him wondered if this was what being human felt like. The rest of him was simply focused on trying to get the proper words out of his silent mouth, rather than expressing himself with just incoherent and sloppy word meshing and excited noises._

_He took a deep breath._

_…I love you. You’re absolutely wonderful… You’re so pretty and sweet and perfect the way that you are. I want to kiss you so much… I love you…_

_His partner gazed up at him with such a gorgeous, happy smile on his face right then, that it made his core flutter like it was lighter than air, and whirr softly within his metallic chest. His partner giggled and tried to touch his face, but he didn’t have the hands necessary for that. “I love you too. You’re just… wow, you know…? I wanna kiss you too… and hug you… I want to do everything with you…”_

_He wanted to kiss him right then and there. He leaned down and touched their foreheads together, looking into each other’s eyes, unaware of the voice trying to call for him._

_“...eeeeyyyy! Heeeeyyyy…! … …you …hear me…?”_

_His partner heard the voice though, and tapped his shoulder and pointed up at the sky. He turned around and-- oh god Quick Man’s face was on the sun. Oh god, the SUN WAS GETTING CLOSER TO THEM everYTHING’S TURNING RED--_

~~~~~

“Metaaaaal! Metal Blaaaaades! C’mooon, wake up!” Quick called out, jumping on said Robot Master over and over, before deciding to sit down on him and drum at his armor. “Metaaal!”

The burgundy Robot Master stirred regrettably and let out a sleepy, irritated groan. He opened his eyes and watched the world slowly come into focus as his optics adjusted to the lighting around him, before he registered the small weight he felt on his side. He slowly turned his head and saw his brightly-colored, thin brother sitting on his hip, playing out a drum beat on his body. He groaned again, softer this time, before rubbing at his eyes and pushing the black, uneven hair out of his face. 

“Oh… hey Quick,” Metal greeted him quietly and casually, “Would you kindly get your skinny ass off’a me?” 

“Only as soon as you move your giant ass,” Quick chirped back at him, before getting off of him and standing on the bed. “Rise and shine, we’ve got a lot to do today! Didja have a nice sleep?” He carefully stepped around a sleeping Crash before hopping off of the bed and bouncing lightly in place. He then jogged around the corners of the warehouse. This would be about the 12th lap he’d make indoors. Metal stretched his limbs and lightly pushed himself away from Crash. 

“My sleep was fine. It’s not like…” …Wait. Wait a second. He remembered something from before… but what was it? “Wait. Wait, wait… I… I can’t remember…” He sat up slowly and put his metallic hands on his temples and rubbed them. He was somewhere with Crash. A place he’s never seen before. And then… ugh… why was it so hazy and hard to recall…? He shouldn’t be forgetting things like this. He was a robot, robots shouldn’t be able to forget things in the first place! “Did… … Was I dreaming…? Did I just have a dream…?! A-and of course, I can’t remember it! Of course!” 

Quick soon finished his lap around the warehouse and smiled. “Hey, you had a dream at least! That’s more than anytime I’ve ever went into sleep mode, hehe~” 

Metal looked around and was surprised by how little light filled into the warehouse. “Oh… Do I even want to know the time…?” 

“It’s 7:19am…” Flash moaned against a desk by the furniture pile tiredly. He sounded exhausted and faceplanted against the desk. Quick jogged over to him and smiled wider. 

“Awww, Flashy babe, you sound so tired… You should go back to sleep. If ya want, I’ll get you something nice later today~ Like all the food we can eat now… and the drinks we can have…” Quick’s smile only grew the more he thought about all the things in the world he could share together with Flash, now that they were no longer destined to die and were now in control of their own lives. The food they could try… the places they could see… all the dances they could share… all the kisses they didn’t have to hide… 

“No… it’s fine… I’ll get up…” Flash mumbled, getting up and stretching, before slowly and clumsily heading for their collective bottled water supply. Quick turned to Metal and flashed him a wide grin. 

“You oughta drink somethin’ and stretch. There’s a little bit of work we gotta do before the surprise I got planned for today~” He said, before running over to the pile of plastic bags that Metal had no idea when they got there, and began to dig through them. 

“...What kind of work are you talking about--” Metal began before a rather large piece of cloth was thrown at his face. He slowly pulled it off of his face and peered down at it. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was an apron. Soon, another cloth was thrown at him, but he caught it this time. It looked like a do rag of sorts, maybe made of terry cloth or something similarly rough. It didn’t take him long to realize that if there’s no kitchen in this warehouse right now, then that means… “Quick. Quick, if you make me clean this entire warehouse, you’re going to let me sleep for days afterwards, you hear me?” 

“But I thought you liked everything being clean? Actually, I think we all do.” Quick mused. 

“True. But look at the size of this place! You expect me to do this alone? You want me to suffer like I did back then at the Wily Castle?” Metal complained, before glancing at Quick again, and lifted an eyebrow in curious amusement. Quick was already donned in his own cleaning apron, gloves, and was in the middle of pulling and slipping off his rather thin form-fitting helmet, exposing his short blonde hair, and wrapping his own do rag around his head. 

“What, you think I’m our piece ‘a shit deadbeat creator? The answer’s no. I got ya covered, no worries~” Quick snorted before glancing over at Flash, whom had tumbled over the couch-bed facefirst, asleep while holding the water bottle in his hand. “Guess it’s just you and me after all, hehe~” 

“That’s odd. It’s not like we just got home, we’ve had days of rest already.” Metal commented on the slumbering Flash. 

“Flash is a little like Crash. Normally, he can’t wake up at an early hour, not unless he’s got trouble sleeping.” 

“Why’s that?” 

“He thinks a lot. Got a lot on his mind all the time,” Quick said, before smiling at him, “Always worrying about something or someone. He just cares a lot about us.” Upon scrutinizing Metal, he saw he was wearing the do rag and tying the apron behind him. Quick tossed Metal his own pair of gloves. They landed in his face as well. Of course. “So, while you all were sleeping, I took some of your money and headed over to the city you guys were telling me about. Got some cleaning stuff, and then I remembered this amazing idea Flash told me about the other day. But you’ll find out what it is later~” 

“Quick, how much money did you take…?” Metal asked. “The Doctor said he doesn’t have much to give to us if we’re constantly visiting.” 

“Oh, about a third. No biggie, right?” Quick chirped, whilst the cutter robot almost choked. 

“Quick, no. We’re supposed to save that money… That’s it. Next time, you ask me first. I’m the Treasurer from now on.” Metal huffed, only making his scarlet brother chuckle. 

“It was a necessary evil, Metal Blades. How else would I have gotten enough of this stuff?” Quick said, before kicking the plastic bags full of cleaning supplies across the floor over to Metal. The burgundy Robot Master sifted through the bags and lifted an eyebrow. He certainly did get more than enough. He also noticed the small tubes of various car polishes and sandpaper strips and foam pads at the bottom of one of the bags, but he didn’t say anything. He put the gloves on. 

“Fair enough.” Metal said, before digging through the bags again. He pulled out a bucket and mop and walked over and handed it to Quick. “You go clean the floors. I’ll take care of the windows and walls and everything else. And then check on the roof later, too. Okay?” Metal suggested, before heading over to the furniture pile to look for the ladder he and Crash used to fix the roof. Where did that thing go…? 

Quick saluted. “Aye!” He said, before digging through the bags for the gallons of water he bought for non-drinking purposes. He began to pour some into the bucket. 

“Oh, and another thing. Take your time cleaning. You can’t rush through a thorough scrubbing. If you go too fast, you won’t clean anything.” Metal called out, lifting up the huge ladder and almost losing his balance. 

Quick grimaced and gripped the mop. This suddenly felt like it was going to be much more painful than he thought it would’ve been a few minutes ago.

~~~~~

White noise filled his receptors. If he focused hard enough, he could make out voices and laughter and squeaky sounds. It wasn’t enough to convince him to wake up. However, something else might’ve been… A familiar scent began to creep within his nostrils and tickle at his artificial olfactory senses. It didn’t take too long for his CPU to register the scent within his memory databanks as one of his most favorite smells in the whole world. His eyes slowly peeked open and light filled in. He instinctively lifted a drill up to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight that filled into the warehouse.

Crash groaned softly, taking a moment for his eyes to adjust to the world around him. He blinked multiple times, before focusing on something flat and white in front of him. His head rested against a pillow-- wait, when did they get pillows? And about a foot or two away from him, laid a flat, thin white box. The smells were coming from it. He stared at it for a minute, processing what this box was and what it meant to him. Suddenly, the realization dawned on him and came crashing down harder his bombs. 

“D-donut!” Crash gasped, his head shooting up in alertness. “DONUT!!” He immediately threw an arm over to try to grab the box, but only then he realized yet again that he had drills instead of hands, and that he can’t complete simple tasks because of this. _Not today, though,_ Crash thought. Today was going to be different. The donuts needed him to eat them! He was determined! With a little growl and some crawling towards the box, Crash then swiped the box with both drills, pulling it in closer to himself. Okay, now to OPEN the box somehow. He considered drilling the box, but that would mean destroying the delicious pastry rings inside. He put a drill tip to his chin, thinking, before moving the same tip on top of the box and pressing down, whilst his other drill pushed upwards just underneath the box’s lid. After some struggle, the box came undone and opened up, revealing the sweet, sweet, heavenly pastries within. Crash’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas in July. He licked his lips. Truly, he was about to enjoy the greatest breakfast in the world. 

“Heeyyy, look who’s up~!” A familiar, boisterous voice filled Crash’s audio receptors, before his most recently recovered ‘brother’ squatted down into his line of sight. He was no longer wearing an apron and do rag, and he held his own helmet in his hands, as well as a damp rag and a bag full of who knows what. “Good morning, Sleepy~” Quick chirped happily at him, grinning and setting his helmet down on the bed. “I thought Metal wasn’t serious when he said that donuts will move you to do anything, but I guess I was just supremely wrong, hehe.” Crash actually woke up at a decent hour! Quick was a little impressed.

“Mmmmmm, good morning, Quick~” Crash yawned back at him, his mouth pulling up into a wide, happy smile. “Who got these donuts?” 

“That would be yours truly,” the scarlet Wilybot answered, winking, “Metal and I did a little bit of work this morning and I finished early, so I thought, ‘Hey, why not treat ourselves and get everyone breakfast?’ And speaking of work, take a look around. Notice anything different?” 

Crash blinked before slowly sitting up on the bed and then looking around. He didn’t notice it at first, but after looking around the third time, everything just seemed to… glisten and gleam? It brought back waves of nostalgia flooding through his core, as it reminded him of back when their Wily Castle used to gleam like this in the morning. Except this time, the cleanliness was more much obvious and clear. “This place is almost sparkling clean.” He commented, before snickering. “D-Did Flash use his Time Stopper or something?” 

“Well, I’m not passed out on the floor, so that can’t be.” Quick joked, before gesturing over to Flash who sat at the desk again. He seemed to be eating a sandwich of some sort while fumbling with the camera that his partner got for him over five years ago. “No, he only woke up maybe half an hour ago. Him and I are planning something special for us all today.” 

“40 minutes ago, actually,” Flash commented from the desk, before chirping, “Also, good morning, Crash.” 

“Good mornin’, Flash~!” Crash chimed before his eyes seemed to glisten and focus on Quick in curiousity. “What kiiinda plans?” He cooed, smiling widely. 

Quick smirked widely. “So Flash had this amazing idea the night that we told our old Doc off, right? Well, we can do whatever we want now since no one’s bossing us around anymore, and it hit me then that we haven’t done this yet, and you guys probably haven’t done this either. Soooo…” He then winked and flashed him a grin. “Today, the four of us are gonna go on a double date.” 

Crash’s eyes then lit up and became starry-eyed. “A double date?! Ohhhh, that sounds fun! I’ve never been on a date before! …What’s a double date?” 

“It’s when two couples go on their dates at the same time and the same place. So for us, Flashy and I would be on a date, and so would you and Metal Blades. We’d be going on our dates together. Does that sound any fun?” He asked. 

Crash shook his head up and down and almost bounced in place on the bed. “YES!” He yelled excitedly, before looking around the warehouse again, and he tilted his head at Quick. “Where is Metal, by the way?” Quick simply answered by casually pointing straight up. Crash followed his hand and looked up at the ceiling, and immediately spotted Metal in his ‘cleaning uniform’, scrubbing away at the large glass window panes that hovered almost completely over and on top of their bed. Quick dispensed out a small Quick Boomerang into his hand and threw it upwards at the ceiling near the window. The boomerang made a small, little ‘dink!’ noise upon hitting the ceiling and echoed. Metal stopped scrubbing for a moment, and looked down through the window at Crash and Quick. He smiled and waved hi to the drillbot and speedy bot, and Crash grinned widely and waved hi back. “Well, that answers my question!” He then giggled to himself. “Metal and I are gonna go on a date… aaaahhhh, I’m so excited now!! I can’t wait! It’s like it’s just hitting me all at once now!” He gushed giddily, putting his drills against his cheeks. 

“I know right?!” Quick gushed back, doing the same as Crash and putting a hand against his cheek. “Flash and I finally get to go on a real date… Oh god, I’m so happy I could cry, but I’m not going to, of course.” He sighed happily and his cheeks were lightly dusted red. Crash reached down for a donut with his drill, and Quick decided to make his life easier by picking up the donut he wanted and holding it out for him to bite. Crash then chomped on the donut and tugged it out of the scarlet Robot Master’s hand. He shut his eyes for a moment, savoring the flavor happily and humming in content. “Oh, by the way, do you think you could hold still while you eat those donuts?” Quick asked. 

Crash made a noise of approval and nodded, before making a curious, questioning noise while tilting his head. 

“Because I want us to look -good- today while we go on our double date. You’re getting a polishing.” Quick answered, before producing a small tube of car polish. Crash finished his donut. 

“I thought you needed a buff in order to polish something. You know, like those really soft and nice buffer wheels?” The orange Robot Master asked. 

“You’re underestimating me, Crash.” Quick said. “Buffering machines ain’t needed when you have me around. Not to mention those are expensive… You can do it by hand, and my hands can go just as fast as my legs. Where’s your helmet? I’ll show you.” Crash reached behind him and pushed his discarded helmet over towards him before lifting it carefully and handing it to Quick. Quick took the helmet and held up another donut for Crash. The speedy robot then examined the helmet and frowned. “Jeez, the whole thing’s scuffed up. I guess a sandpaper job’s first.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a strip of sandpaper, held it firmly in his hand, before suddenly moving his hand so fast against the helm, that said hand became a blur. Loud, abrasive sanding noises filled the air. It only took about a minute before Quick finished the entire helmet and slowed down, and then began rapidly rubbing a foam pad coated in a paint-correcting polish next. After that, another coat of a different car polish and then a finisher. Soon enough, the helmet began to sparkle and gleam, as if it were finished just that day. Quick wiped it down with the wet rag and handed it to Crash, who was watching curiosity and awe the whole time. “There ya go, good as new.” 

Crash took the helmet in his drills, looking down at it starry eyed. It was… SO… SHINY! “Wow,” he breathed. “It’s so sparkly and clean!” He looked up at Quick. “Can you do the rest of my armor?!” 

Quick grinned at him, before grabbing another donut and letting Crash bite into it. He then examined Crash, and looked around him, scrutinizing him up and down. “Hmmmm…” Quick put a hand to his chin. “Surprisingly, there’s not a whole of damage to your armor. Well, except for this older arm here, but that’s a quick job. Like I said, try to hold still while I work, ‘k?” He explained, before placing the donut box on Crash’s lap, and then taking out the sandpaper again. 

After what seemed like a short while of sanding, buffing, and polishing Crash’s armor, Quick finally put everything back in the bag and took a step back to admire his work. The orange drillbot put his helmet on and stood up, and Quick’s smile widened considerably. Every part of Crash’s orange armor seemed to shine brightly and glisten, and seemed so much more vibrant than it’s ever been. The way the sun shined down warmly and bounced against the armor only made Crash’s already bright and sunny disposition look even more so. He looked like sunshine at this point. His drills even gleamed, despite cleaning said drills not being necessary since Crash could replace them at any moment. Well, maybe not any moment, Crash thought. Metal still won’t let me fire Crash Bombers inside the warehouse, not since that time I broke down… 

“How do I look?” Crash asked eagerly. 

Quick simply winked at him and smirked. “You’re almost as shiny and new-looking as me, and that’s impressive. ‘You trying to take my title as shiniest Robot Master?” Crash simply beamed excitedly at him and Quick pretended to shield his eyes. “Jeez, try not to blind me.” 

Crash giggled and beamed more. “Oh, I wish I had a mirror so I could look at myself! And no one is shinier than you, Quick. … …Well, actually, maybe Flash.” 

Quick pursed his lips. “...You’re not wrong. And I did work on him first before you.” He called out to his partner. “Hey Flashy! Come over here for a sec!” Flash didn’t move for a moment, before he grabbed the camera and got up, soon joining them. 

“Need something, sweetie--” Only then did Flash lay his eyes on Crash. “Oh, wow. You’re really shiny and bright,” Flash complemented, smiling widely. “Are you trying to outshine us?” 

Crash’s lips curled up into a small smirk. “...Maybe,” he said quietly, holding up his glistening and gleaming drills. Flash lifted an eyebrow. 

“Pah. That’s child’s play. Now look at me,” Flash said confidently, before stepping into a patch of light next to the bed. Flash’s body, polished and with such a bright sheen, became so radiant and sparkly that his body twinkled beautifully. Crash held a drill to his eyes again. The temporal robot chuckled. “And now I blinded him. Look what you’ve done, Quick~” 

“Oops.” Quick laughed, before smiling at his partner. “I’ve got no regrets, though. Not when you look that brilliant and gorgeous.” He walked closer to him. “Are you ready for today? We’re finally gonna go on our date~” He cooed at him, his smile turning sweet. Flash returned the smile. 

“I’ve been ready for a long, long time~” The blue Robot Master cooed back at him, before lifting up his camera and winking. Quick’s eyes lit up in recognition upon seeing the old but high quality digital camera. 

“Oh hey, you actually got that!” He exclaimed, smiling widely. 

“I’m sorry… I couldn’t wait until Christmas…” 

“Weren’t we celebrating Christmas in July, though?” 

“Well, it’s a little late for that now. It’s… what, October now?” Flash mused, before smiling. “I was holding back from opening this camera until at least after we beat Megaman, but uh… that plan, um, fell through. So I thought instead that maybe after we reactivated you, we could take the first picture together…” He explained, smiling shyly at the last part. 

Quick’s smile became a happy grin and he closed the distance between them. “Oh hell yeah, we can~!” He chirped. Flash turned the digital camera on, and then held it up in the air, aiming the lens at the two of them. Quick pulled Flash close and wrapped an arm around him. He then mustered up the prettiest grin he could, while Flash smiled sweetly, before taking their picture. A brilliant white light assaulted their optics for just a split second. Quick rubbed at his eyes. 

“Ack, sorry. I forgot to turn the flash off,” Flash admitted sheepishly, opening up the options on the digital camera and going to the settings. 

“It’s cool. But,” Quick began, smirking, “Why would you ever wanna turn the flash _off? Hmmm?”_

The temporal robot looked at him, his cheeks reddening. “Quick.” He said, his mouth betraying him and smiling. “Don’t go there just yet, the day just began… Not to mention, Metal and Crash are around…” He added, glancing over at the drillbot, who was busy clumsily but happily eating the remainder of the donuts in the box on the bed.

“Flashy, Flash… Each time you postpone it, I’m only gonna get more riled up next time… By the time we actually do have the privacy and time for it, I swear I’m gonna jump on you, hehe~” Quick teased, his hand sliding down Flash’s side to his hip and grasping it tightly. The blue Robot Master’s face reddened even more. 

“I know that already… But unless you want to scar Crash even more, we just need to wait, okay?” Flash said in a hushed tone, before smiling playfully at him and his free hand trailing up and down Quick’s side. “We’ll find time soon enough. Just be patient, okay?” 

Quick flashed him a playful smirk back. “Oh, you know I’m terrible at waiting~...” 

Flash rolled his eyes and smirked at him. “Maybe we’ll see after tonight,” He teased, before holding up the camera again. They both looked up at the camera and smiled, but right before Flash hit the shutter-release button, Quick quickly planted a smooch on Flash’s cheek. Flash flushed red again and looked at the taken pictures. The first picture was almost completely white from the glare created against their lustrous, shiny bodies. The second picture was of Quick kissing Flash’s cheek, smiling in his kiss, while Flash wore a look of blushing surprise. 

“It’s perfect.” Quick said, grinning. “You’ve gotta keep that one.” 

“Noooooo…” Flash whined. “Can we retake it?” 

“We can always take more, but you seriously gotta keep that one.” His partner chimed. 

“Fiiine.” Flash huffed, smiling again, as he lifted the camera again. The two of them smiled at the lens again, and Flash pressed his finger against the shutter-release button… not all the way, though. He paused, before sneakily smooching Quick’s cheek and pressing down on the button, taking the picture. 

“H-hey! You--!! Lemme see the pic!” Quick barked, blushing faintly. Flash showed him the picture on the camera’s LED screen, grinning a playful sharktooth grin. It was exactly like the other picture, except the roles have been swapped. The speedy Robot Master pouted and grunted. 

“What goes around comes back.” Flash cooed, before holding up the camera again. Quick tried to compose himself and smile, but ended up just gently leaning his head against Flash’s and lazily smirking. He relaxed, feeling comfortable. Right before Flash held down the shutter-release button again, somebody had loudly pushed the doors to the warehouse open, making the both of them jump in place. Crash’s head shot up, his mouth covered in sprinkles. 

“FINALLY!” Metal huffed and panted, slinging the filthy do rag off of his head and whipping it across the room. He pointed at Quick. “I should’ve given you more shit to do! I underestimated the size (and filth) of this building. I don’t even want to know when it was last cleaned…” He then untied the filthy, dirt and dust-coated apron and flung it off of himself towards an unused corner of the warehouse. He took a deep breath to himself, before looking at his ‘brothers’, whom all stared at him. “... ...What. What’s the looks for? And if you say ‘There’s something on my face’, then yes. Yes, I’m well aware.” 

Flash, Crash, and Quick all stared at Metal’s body, whose upper torso, arms and hands, and feet were completely coated in scuffs, scratches, and caked in dirt and smudges. Flash and Crash looked at Quick, and then Metal, and then Quick again. Quick’s eyes narrowed at the cutter robot, before he spoke clearly and lowly. 

“Hold him down. I’ll get the sandpaper.” 

“Wha--” Metal began, before he saw Crash charging at him. 

“I’M SORRY, METAAAL!” Crash yelled, before tackling him to the ground. Flash soon jumped on top of them as well. 

The comfortable quiet of the forest and the white noise harmony created from the birds and cars was abruptly killed for the next few minutes by the sounds of loud, furious, abrasive sanding noises, and Metal yelping and screaming.

~~~~~

“Ugh…” Metal groaned, leaning back against his smaller, shiny partner tiredly. The two of them sat in the backseat of their car whilst Flash drove safely and carefully into the city. Quick leaned back into the shotgun seat, feet lifted up and resting on the car’s dashboard. He was flipping through the CD’s that came as part of the ‘package deal’ with stealing this car. “Well, that was a first for me. Did you guys really have to hold me down for that…?” He murmured against Crash.

“Sorry Metal,” Crash spoke quietly, trying to bring a drill around Metal, and Metal ended up shifting to let him do so. Both robots relaxed against one another. “I-it was kind of a ‘heat of the moment’ thing. B-but hey, now you look incredibly bright and clean and shiny and prettier than usual…” He offered, smiling softly. Indeed, Metal had a rather beautiful, lustrous gleam to him, with the Metal Blade parts of him almost having a mirror finish. He looked new and pretty, but he felt nothing but tired and defeated. Though he was at least comfortable, being together with Crash. 

“I guess you’re right. Thank you.” Metal murmured, closing his eyes for a moment. “So, uh, why are we all polished anyways?” His hands and arms and parts of his chest still stung from the sanding… 

“Oh yeah! Quick said that today we’re going on a double date!” Crash said, not trying to contain his glee. Metal’s eyes shot open. 

“W-w-wait, what?!” He yelped, before composing himself. That would most definitely do it. Oh… oh god, a double date. Nobody told him about this any earlier. What should he do…? What should he expect, actually? He’s never been on a date before. He knows about them, he’s read about dates before in his novels, but the thought of actually going on one left him feeling nervous and way too inexperienced. Was it okay to ask for advice and help? He supposed he was only going to find out later. “Well, I guess that’s definitely a good enough reason for why I got buffered into… _scrubmission.”_ He said, smirking a little behind his shiny mask. 

Crash’s smile disappeared and he groaned and grimaced. Why must his partner be so wonderful, and so awful at the same time? Quick paused his reading of a CD album booklet for a moment. “Terrible,” Quick said from the front of the car, “You’re terrible.” 

Metal’s smirk widened. “Aw, and I thought my puns were rather _clean._ I guess I’m still a little rough around the edges. I should work on _polishing_ them more, don’t you think?” 

“STOP,” Quick yelled. Flash couldn’t help himself but start snickering and laughing. Crash was twitching. 

“Metal, if I had hands, I’d, I’d…! …I-I’d…” Crash began, but paused, thinking about what he’d actually do. Metal shot him a curious look. 

“You’d what?” He said, smiling behind his mask. He paused for a moment. “You’d hold me? Grab my face and maybe caress it? Hold my hand?” He watched Crash’s eyes light up and his face brighten. 

“A-actually, yeah, I’d do all of that!” Crash agreed, immediately forgetting about his irritation and smiling widely. “I would so hold your hand. For hours. I’d put them in your hair… touch your whole body with them…” 

Metal’s smile widened. “And I would kiss your hands. Something kind of like this.” He then reached for Crash’s free drill and lifted it up to his face, before retracting his mask and softly kissing it, watching him the whole time. Crash couldn’t feel Metal’s lips on his drill at all, but it didn’t stop his face from flaring up in warm hues of red and revealing his many freckles. Metal chortled softly. “You’re so cute, Crash…” He leaned closer to Crash’s receptor. “One day, you’ll get ‘em…” He whispered, before leaning back.

Crash’s blush deepened and he gazed into Metal’s ruby eyes. “Metal…” He breathed, before bringing his drill behind Metal’s head and gently pushing him closer to his face. He really wanted to kiss him now… The burgundy robot complied and faced his partner and leaned forward again. He lifted Crash’s helmet visor up a little and tilted his head enough to meet his ripped lips with Crash’s smooth ones. The orange Robot Master kissed him softly, and god, now he really wanted hands so he could hold Metal’s face and caress him… He gently held his drill on Metal’s cheek whilst Metal almost did the same, caressing Crash’s jaw. The cutter robot hummed into their kiss softly and blushed. Crash soon began to forget everything that he was thinking before and mentally blanked, simply just focusing on the touches of their lips, the sparks those kisses sent racing through his body, the fluttering and whirring of his core, those small, deep sounds that Metal made in their kisses that was like music to Crash’s receptors… 

… 

Flash watched them for a few seconds in the rearview mirror, before he felt someone else’s gaze on him. He turned his head for a second and saw Quick giving him a playful smirk, eyebrows rising and falling in a fashion reminiscent of Dr. Wily’s infamous eyebrow lifting. Flash flushed pink and murmured, “Quick, I’m driving…” 

“I know~.” 

“When we get out of the car, okay?” 

“Mhmmmm~” 

Flash focused on the road again, and soon, they stopped at a red light. 

“Are we there yet?” Quick asked, still gazing at Flash. 

“I don’t know. Where were we going again?” 

Quick’s smile dropped and he contemplated it hastily. “Weren’t we going to the city park? Since we gotta save money?” 

“Oh.” Flash looked over and realized that the intersection they were at was literally right next to the park entrance. “Oh! Hey, we’re here!” When the light turned green, they drove into the park and quickly found a parking space. Metal reluctantly broke his kiss with Crash and his mask reappeared over his face, and the four Robot Masters climbed out of the car. 

Apparently, the mayor of Monsteropolis must take greenery and environmental sanitation quite seriously, as the city’s park was no pushover, nor was it filthy in any way, shape, or form. The park was huge, and well-trimmed grassy hills composed most of it, along with elegant trees shedding colorful leaves. Birds chirped happily. The park, thankfully, wasn’t too crowded with humans, but Metal couldn’t help notice the sheer amount of dogs that these humans had with them. He didn’t think much of it. 

Quick grinned at Flash. “Flashy… we’re out of the car now~.” He cooed. 

Flash smiled at him and took Quick’s hand in his. “I know~,” he cooed back, smiling wider, before turning to Metal and Crash. “Hey, Metal, Crash. We’re gonna go explore this park, so we’ll be back in a little bit, okay?” Flash said, before flashing Quick a look and a wink. He knew Quick didn’t like waiting… 

Metal gave them a thumbs up. “Gotcha. See ya later.” He said. 

Crash waved a drill at them. “Catch you later!” He chirped. 

Quick then grinned at Flash and suddenly lifted him up into his arms. “Where to, my cute lil’ baldy?” He purred at the temporal robot. 

Flash gave Quick a look at the nickname, before smiling and saying quietly, “Other side of the park, somewhere without too many humans.” 

He nodded and then began running into the massive park. “We’ll be back in maybe an hour or two!” Quick called out to his family, before picking up his speed and disappearing off somewhere. Oh man, Quick thought, I’m gonna kiss the hell outta ya, Flashy… 

Crash looked up at Metal. “Guess they needed a little alone time?” 

“After everything that’s happened in the past month, I think we all need a little privacy and TLC,” Metal said quietly, before taking Crash’s drill in his hand. “Come on, let’s check this place out. Just you and me.” Crash nodded and followed Metal into the park. The park had long winding pathways, and little black benches, and rolling grassy green hills. Tall, old trees casted speckled, large shadows over the grassy patches. It was different from the green hills in their forest. Compared to those hills, these ones were less impressive, but it was charming in a way. Seeing how well this park was taken care of, it was like a little piece of nature amongst the concrete jungle that was the city whose buildings towered over the park in the distance. Metal couldn’t help but appreciate all of it. The two took one of the winding paths into the woods. Birds’ songs echoed through the woods, and eventually the two of them came out of the forested path to a bridge over a large stream of water. Metal was going to continue, but Crash stopped at the highest arc of the bridge. 

He looked at the drillbot, who was looking out at the water. He faced the water as well and leaned against the edge of the bridge. “Like what you see?” Metal asked. 

Crash nodded. “Mhmmm. This place is really pretty, and really big, too. It’s weird. It’s like the forest where we live, but it’s also really different, too.” 

“There’s a lot of places in the world that are like that. Every natural-looking place like this is different, but a lot of them look almost the same.” Metal explained and then paused for a moment. He contemplated as a thought came into his mind. “Do you like where we’ve settled?” 

Crash nodded. “Mhmmm. I know I said it sucked before, but honestly, now that I think about it, I’ve never really gotten to see anything like the forest or the mountains before. The sky looks pretty. Everything smells fresh and rainy and not like steel and air freshener and angry old men.” Metal snickered. “It’s… nice. I don’t really feel as…” What was the word for it…? Crash squinted his eyes. “Irritated? …Frustrated? Like… I don’t feel like blowing up things the second I get angry anymore? Like, blowing up things is still fun, but that’s the thing. I do it now and I don’t feel angry or stupid about it like I used to. I do it now and I just think it’s fun.” 

Metal listened carefully, and then smiled softly behind his mask. “It’s calming, right? All of this?” Metal suggested. Crash nodded more. “Yeah, it’s the same for me. I used to always stay in the factory or our old Wily Castle. You’re right when you said it’s a fresh breath of air. It’s a much nicer change of atmosphere, even if our new home is probably as old and weak as my factory was.” 

“What happened to your factory, anyways?” Crash asked. 

“It collapsed before I was reactivated.” Metal said quietly. His metallic fingers moved to his left forearm and opened a hidden hatch. It was much smaller than the one Flash had in his left forearm. He dug inside it and pulled out a soft, weathered newspaper article, and unfolded it and showed it to Crash. On the newspaper article was a photo of Metal’s old factory, with its roof caved in from piles of snow brought down from harsh blizzards. “See?” 

Crash examined the newspaper article eyes widened and he frowned. “Oh no… I’m sorry, Metal…” The cutter robot put the newspaper clipping back into the compartment hatch in his forearm. 

“Nah, don’t be. We all were abandoned for years, as was our stations, too. So this was only going to inevitably happen. I’m just hoping now that the same thing won’t happen to our new home. I’m sorry I didn’t really pick a nicer place…” 

“No, no, don’t be. It’s homey, and spacey, and pretty… especially with that window above our bed that lets us see the stars.” Crash then smiled. “And especially this morning when I looked up and saw that pretty robot Metal Man, hehe~” 

Metal just chuckled and retracted his mask. “Oh Crash… What do you see when you look at me?” Crash looked at Metal questioningly, and tilted his head. He blinked and Metal took that as a cue to explain himself. “I mean… what do you even like about me?” The cutter robot looked out towards the water, and watched a few ducks and swans fly and land in the water. His smile turned melancholic. “There’s not a whole lot of things I like about me.” 

The drillbot shuffled closer to Metal. “Metal… why not? What isn’t there to like about you?” 

“I can name a couple of things.” Metal said, closing his eyes. “...I’m old. I’m weak and frail. And in all honesty, I’m just a handsomer bootleg of Cut Man. You’ve at least got something original in your design.” 

Crash shook his head despite Metal not seeing. “First of all, don’t ever compare yourself to Cut Man ever again. You are you. That means you’re an awesome Robot Master and partner. You’re also a robot I really like-- no, a robot I love. Who cares if you’re not built with the best defenses? We all can’t be Wood. And who cares if you’re not the best fighter either?” Metal opened his eyes and looked at his partner. Crash then smiled at him. “All my favorite parts of you are the parts I see when you’re not fighting, anyways. You’re caring, you’re talented, and you try so hard… and you’ve listened to my problems and helped me out so many times.” Crash’s smile widened. “And I think I might like older robots if they’re you, hehe~” 

“Crash… you really think that highly of me…?” Metal asked quietly. “But how? W-we’ve only really had so little time to get to know each other, though… I still don’t know so much about you…” 

“Of course, I do. Not to mention, you’re surprisingly cuddly, and really funny. And…” Crash shuffled closer to Metal until they were touching sides. His drills rested against the bridge’s railing. “Is it weird that we barely know each other, but I don’t ever wanna leave you when you’re around? I just… I-I don’t know… I just love being around you and listening to you and talking to you…” 

Metal gazed at Crash, before his expression relaxed and he smiled softly. His face flushed a little. “...I have no idea, but thank you.” Metal spoke softly and quietly, “...Is it weird if I feel exactly the same way, too?” His smile transformed into something sweet. 

Crash’s face brightened and he smiled sweetly back at him. “I have no idea. But… you know what I see when I look at you?” He cooed. Metal’s full attention was now on Crash, and his receptor extension twitched cutely. Crash began to flush red as he spoke. “I see a wonderful Robot Master, who’s pretty and sweet and perfect the way he is. I see someone who I want to learn so much more about, who I want to spend so much more time with.” 

Metal processed what Crash said, re-going over it over and over in his head, before his cheeks flushed a deeper red. His expression grew gentle and warm. “Crash…” He purred softly, trying his best to hold in mushy word gibberish from erupting from his mouth. He blamed his fluttery core. “Crash… Thank you… thank you so much.” He pulled the drillbot in for a hug and Crash’s face rested against Metal’s chest. “I’m such a lucky guy. To have someone who loves me and cares about me that much… Not to mention that someone is just stunning, cute… fun, and kind, and is so precious to me.” 

Crash’s core felt lighter than air from Metal’s words and he nuzzled his chest with his reddening face while trying to hug him as best as he could with drills for hands. “I really do, Metal. You mean so much to me.” 

Metal wrapped his arms snugly around Crash and hugged him closely, before leaning down and planting a kiss on the top of Crash’s helmet. “You took the words right out of my mouth.” He purred. “I love you.” 

Crash’s body and core felt so warm and happy in Metal’s arms, and he looked up at his partner. His emerald green eyes sparkled and met with Metal’s ruby eyes, who looked at him so lovingly. “Me too,” he breathed excitedly, “I love--” 

Crash’s sentence was interrupted by loud splashing noises and flapping and honks. Curious, Crash shifted in Metal’s embrace and peered over the edge of the bridge. Upon seeing the source of the noises, his eyes widened huge and became starry. “BIRDS!!” Crash suddenly yelled excitedly, before looking up at Metal. “BIRD!! Bird bird bird!!” He bounced in place and pointed at them with his drill. 

Metal stared at the birds before looking at Crash and how excited he was, before his mouth contorted upwards and he began to giggle. And then laugh loudly. “PFFTHAHAHAHAHAHA!” He let go of Crash and instead took his drill in his hand, and led him off of the bridge. “Hehehe~ Quick was right. You’re definitely nuts about birds. C’mon, let’s go see them.” The two of them stood on the grass by the water’s edge. The birds that played in the water consisted of mostly ducks and a swan. 

“Water birds!” Crash gasped. “I’ve never seen those before! Birds can swim?!” 

Metal lifted an eyebrow. “You’ve never seen ducks and swans before?” 

Crash shook his head no. “Never. I wanna get closer to them! I want them closer to me! Metal, do you have food on you?” 

“Food? Why would we need food?” 

“Because! Birds like food, and they like robots! If you have food, they’ll come over and sit on you!” Metal lifted his eyebrow higher. 

“Did the birds at your station sit on you before?” 

“All the time!” Crash gushed, letting warm nostalgia flood his memory banks. “I’d always used to steal all the bread from the kitchen in the Castle back then and take it to my station for all the birds to eat. Even the Pipis would flock over!” 

“W-wait, you did what?! That was you, Crash?!” Metal yelped. Crash’s smile dropped and was replaced with a look of surprise. 

“Yeah, I did-- and-- …and you were also one of the cooks… Oh… Oh gosh, I’m sorry, Metal--” 

“And I thought it was just Heat this whole time…” Metal breathed, before smiling at him. “Hey, it’s fine. No worries. You want me to get you some bread?” 

Crash vigorously nodded his head. “Yes, please, Metal! Bread or seeds work either way.” 

“Got it.” Metal said before turning around and bolting off.

~~~~~

“Wait, wait, wait, she did WHAT to you?! Are you serious?!”

“I’m telling the truth 100 percent. She punched me in the face, called me ugly, and then I got hit by car five minutes later,” Flash casually explained. He lightly swung his hand, intertwined with Quick’s, inbetween them back and forth. Quick gripped Flash’s hand and grinded his teeth angrily. 

“That shitty woman! THAT SHITTY PIECE OF SCRAP OF A HUMAN, I’M GONNA-- Oh, OH, if I see this human, ohohoho if I see this mother, I’m gonna… I-I’m gonna, oh, I don’t know what I’m gonna do!” Quick growled and laughed bitterly. One thing he immediately noticed the day after he was reactivated was that he had new programming inside him, programming that commanded him NOT to harm humans. Oh, the irony. Getting what he wants from humans will be all that much harder, but some masochist part of him hoped that the effort would be much more challenging and fun this way. “But it’ll be bad. It’ll be EVIL. DIABOLICAL.” 

“I’ve got an idea,” Flash offered, before smiling deviously. 

“Lay it on me. My creative gears ain’t spinnin’ well today.” 

Flash paused, if only for dramatic effect, before he exposed his sharktooth grin to his partner. “...We steal her infant again. This time on purpose. And we don’t return it back to her this time, either. We’ll raise the infant and be better parents than she could ever hope to be.” Flash beamed proudly at the idea. It was both spiteful to the mother AND good for the baby! 

Quick raised an eyebrow. “...That IS evil. But… I don’t know, Flash… I-I don’t really know if I’m ready to be a parent. Especially to a human infant. Wouldn’t we constantly have responsibilities and obligations we can’t abandon, then? Wouldn’t that just tie us down? Not to mention that human infants are really fragile, too… I wouldn’t trust an infant around me.” 

“True,” Flash agreed, and then added, “...But you have me around to help with that. And Metal and Crash and the rest of our brothers would help out, too. That’s basically eight parents, then.” Quick contemplated the thought, putting his free hand to his chin and stroking it. “Think about this, too. We’d be married robots with a human child. Imagine getting to shove that news in Dr. Wily’s face--” 

“I LOVE THE IDEA,” Quick suddenly exclaimed excitedly. “LET’S GO STEAL THAT INFANT RIGHT NOW!” 

Flash broke out into happy laughter and leaned against Quick comfortably. He missed Quick so much… He finally felt content and at peace… like all was finally right in the world, so long as he was by his side. His eyes flitted up to his partner, who smiled softly back at him, and then to the sky, which… wow, that was a lot of birds landing in the same spot. He blinked a few times and tugged at Quick’s hand. “Did you see that? All those birds landing in the same spot?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Let’s go check it out.” Flash said, pushing himself off of Quick’s side and speeding up his pace. Quick effortlessly kept up with him. 

Upon turning the corner, they spotted a small wooden arched bridge over a large stream and not even a few feet away, the two Robot Masters spotted their missing brethren. The burgundy cutter robot, Metal Man, sat contently on the grass, holding a crow in his hands. And his partner… The orange drillbot, Crash Man, was almost completely covered in birds perched on his head, his shoulders, and his drills. A swan sat in his lap, and underneath the swan’s wing, were more baby swans. Crash could not have looked any more blissful and euphoric. 

“Wow.” Flash said, eyebrows raised. “Looks like you two made some friends!” He said, keeping his distance. He had to hold Quick from approaching them any further. Upon closer examination, Flash noticed that Crash was covered almost head to toe in some sort of bird seed, and bread pieces and crumbs were littered all over his body. 

Crash felt like he was as close to reaching nirvana as he thought he physically could be. His core was so warm and happy and content. In his lap, a mother swan and her little baby birdies. On the rest of him… he couldn’t even name the rest of them… What were they? Pigeons, sparrows, smaller birdies… doves, too? And then all around them were ducks feeding on the bread. He couldn’t name the black birds, but they seemed to like Metal more than him. He opened his eyes, and god, his emerald green eyes shined and sparkled like the morning dew on a lawn. He tried to say something coherent, but all that escaped his lips was a quiet, happy ‘eeeeeeeeeeeee’. Metal chuckled and his thumb slowly and gently rubbed the crow’s head in his hand. 

“I’m gonna move, okay?” Metal murmured under his breath to the crow, before slowly moving closer to Crash. He faced the drillbot. “You doin’ okay there, Crash?” 

Crash’s happy eyes met with Metal’s and he flashed him the happiest smile he could muster. “This is the best day of my life,” Crash squeaked out. “I love birds so much, I want to cry. I love you so much, Metal.” Metal’s core fluttered at his words, and his circuits raced at the sight of Crash just looking so genuinely happy. He gave him a loving smile. 

“Crash… I’m so happy.” To make you happy. To be with you. To share all these birds with you. Just… you, Metal thought blissfully, before looking up at Quick and Flash. “If you’re just going to stare at us, you might as well take a picture. I’m certain it will last longer.” 

Quick opened his mouth, and then closed it, before looking at Flash. “Actually…” Quick began, smirking. Flash caught his look and smiled widely. 

“It’s funny you say that, because that’s exactly what I’m going to do.” Flash said, before he suddenly whipped out his camera and began to take pictures from all different angles of the bird-covered Robot Masters. Crash simply smiled at the camera. Metal carefully held up his cupped hands so Flash could get a close up of the crow that had taken a liking to him. 

“Amazing,” Flash breathed, having gotten used to the camera by now. He flipped through the photos he took, impressed at both Crash and himself. The picture of Metal with the crow was definitely one of his favorites. Maybe I should make a photo album, Flash thought to himself, content. 

Quick’s eyes flitted over all of the birds, before he decided to very carefully step over to the two Robot Masters. He squatted down. “Hey, do ya think I could join the bird squad, too?” He asked, smiling.

“Sure,” Metal said, returning the smile. He reached behind himself and pulled out the bird seed container that he totally did not use his Metal Blades to saw off from an official park bird feeder pole, and then cut a hole in. He held out the bird seed container. Quick eagerly and hastily held his hand out, only for almost all of the birds to immediately fly away. Even the mother swan picked herself up and stepped out of Crash’s lap and waddled back to the stream, but not before whooping at Quick. 

“...” Quick frowned. “Oh. …Aw jeez, I’m sorry Crashy. Did I do something wrong?” 

“You might’ve moved too fast.” Metal commented, as the crow in his hands stretched before squawking at him and taking off to the skies. 

“Awwww… dreams don’t last forever…” Crash said sadly, before brightening up. “But they did come true! Metal, that was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.” He smiled a gorgeous smile at him then. And then right at that moment, Metal regretted nothing in his life. Flash grinned and snapped a picture of that very moment. This was going in a photo album sometime in the future.

~~~~~

The sun had begun to set long ago, hiding itself behind a few of the buildings that shot up into the sky. The sky had turned a fusion of deep magenta and orange, the wispy clouds becoming pink. However, the sun was descending and the sky grew slightly darker with each minute. Cars littered the streets, loud and cramped, desperate to go their separate ways and make it back to their homes. However, the evening was still young for four Robot Masters. Metal and Flash were looking over their overly large city map, while Quick did his best to wipe all of the bird seed off of Crash.

“Are you certain we can’t just go somewhere cheap?” Metal argued. 

“Absolutely not. You can’t just go to a cheap place on a date. Not even if you’re almost broke. There’s got to be a decent place that’s at least a little bit affordable.” Flash argued back. 

“What you said just there is an oxymoron, Flash. ‘Affordable’ and ‘Decent’ don’t belong in the same sentence together when it comes to restaurants.” 

“How would you know? How many restaurants have we been to?” 

“I’ve been observing humans longer than all of you. It’s just something I picked up.” 

“Metal, we might not have been able to eat before, but don’t you at least have standards?” 

Quick twitched and placed his hands on the Robot Masters’ shoulders. “Here’s an idea,” Quick suddenly cut into their conversation, “Why not just go to any restaurant we want… and not pay the tab? That way, the food’s free.” 

“Are you suggesting we dine and dash on a double date?” Metal deadpanned at him. Quick just smirked at him. 

“Dine and _dash,_ Metal Blades. Look who you’re talking to. It’ll be a piece of cake. I can go fast, and Flash can stop time~.” 

Metal paused, and before looking at Crash and Flash. Flash thought about it, before he just shook his head and smiled. 

“It’s terrible, but I highly doubt we’ll ever get caught.” Flash said, grinning. “Count me in.” Crash just gave a ‘thumbs up’ with his drill. 

“Well… okay, fine, let’s do that. Now we just gotta pick a restaurant.” Metal said, before looking down at the map. Flash and Quick joined him. Meanwhile, Crash looked around at the city. Despite everyone trying to go home, it only seemed like the city seemed to wake up tonight, as many buildings around him lit up with their neon signs and whatnot. Like that tall one close by pointing to a restaurant. Crash looked around more, trying to find a nice restaurant. … … 

…Wait. 

Crash looked back to the tall neon sign across the street. “Hey guys,” Crash called out, “There’s a restaurant across the street. Is that one any good?” His partner and his brothers whipped their heads in the direction Crash looked. 

“What kind of restaurant is it?” Flash asked. 

Crash scrutinized the neon sign, and then the non-glowy signs below it. “I’m not sure. But it apparently has a dancefloor--” 

“I’M SOLD LET’S GO--” Quick said, grabbing Flash and Metal’s hands and immediately speeding off towards the restaurant, leaping over the traffic with his partner and ‘brother’ in tow. He lept from car hood to car hood, before landing gracefully on the sidewalk across from Crash. The other two Robot Masters in two didn’t land so well. Crash stared at the scarlet Robot Master in awe. “Well?” Quick called out. “C’mon, Crash, the night’s only gettin’ here faster!” 

Crash shook his head to regain his composure and senses. He was filled with determination and tried his very best to copy how Quick moved. Except that when he stepped on the car hoods, he ended up crushing said cars under his weight, setting off many airbags and car alarms. By the time he made it to the other sidewalk, his brothers and partner already entered the building. Crash followed suit, ignoring what violent explosion noises he heard behind him. 

The restaurant interior was rather dark, only illuminated and lit by blue and purple lights that faintly glowed and casted the entire restaurant in soft, fuzzy hues. There was a bar with many mirrors, a small dancefloor, and many comfy-looking booths. The walls were almost completely comprised of windows. Club music filled the air. Crash’s eyes narrowed as he looked around. Where the heck did his family go?! Was… he in the right restaurant with a dancefloor? He was about to turn around and doublecheck, when a white light caught his attention, and he looked over to see Flash sitting in a faraway booth, softly glowing white and beckoning him over. He smiled and bounded over to their booth and plopped himself right next to Metal, who kept a space open for Crash to sit in. Much to Flash’s disappointment, they couldn’t get themselves a seat by the window. Much to Crash’s satisfaction though, this booth was one of the larger ones on the restaurant floor and it actually gave him enough space to move his drills. 

“Hey, hey, look who’s decided to join us,” Quick teased, smiling widely. “What took ya so long? We already ordered our drinks. I hope ya like soda.” He pushed a tall, icy cold glass of carbonated soda and ice cubes towards Crash, and then shoved a very long straw into said glass. 

Crash’s eyes lit up as he immediately went to sip the soda. Upon tasting the soft drink, his eyes dilated slightly and he smiled widely, taking a moment to let the fizzy, strong taste dance on his robotic tongue. “Wow…!” He said, grinning. “I think I like soda a lot! And also, uh, I was… uhh… trying to get past the traffic.” 

“Were you trying to copy my moves?” Quick teased more. 

“... … …yes.” Crash admitted sheepishly. 

“That would explain the explosions…” Metal sighed, before lowering his voice to a quiet, hushed tone. “We’re probably gonna have to stay here until the police outside piss off and go away. We don’t have the clothes on us for Cedric Mandez to make another appearance.” 

“That’s fine for now. Aren’t we here to enjoy a nice dinner anyways?” Flash said, smiling. Metal’s mask retracted as he nodded and sipped at a glass of water of his own. Crash and Quick’s smiles brightened. 

“Mhmmm!” Crash said, before sipping at his soda again. He hummed happily as he drank. 

“Yup, and now we’re all here.” Quick commented, before his smile contorted more and he began snickering. “O-o-ohhhohoho god, I wish you came here sooner, Metal was doing the m-most f-fuckin’ spot-on Air impression I’ve ever heard t-to the waiter and scared the s-scrap out of him, holy shit! Ahehehehehehhe~!” Quick couldn’t help himself but giggle. Flash began snickering as well. 

“O-oh god, please tell you’ve heard Metal’s Air impression,” Flash said to Crash whilst trying to hold in the laughter. 

Crash grinned. “Oh yeah, I’ve heard it. He used it when we were on our way to get you, Flash. It was just glorious to watch, HE MADE A HUMAN CRY!” He said, before laughing. 

“N-no! You didn’t!” Flash said in disbelief, looking at Metal. 

The cutter robot grinned and cleared his throat, before assuming his posh, near-flawless Air Man impression. “Mmmmm I did, indeed. That miniscule, organic ignoramus couldn’t fathom nor handle my rather… … mmmmmmintimidating stature--” 

“S-stop-!!” Quick choked out, giggling harder to himself. Flash started laughing. 

“--And my… mmmmmmmmmmmMMMMMMLARGEIMPOSINGFAN--” Metal continued in his Air Man voice. Flash began laughing much harder and Crash exploded into frantic giggles. 

“O-OH GOD! AHAHAHA~! NOT THE FAN!” Flash laughed. Quick exploded into guffaws and starting lightly banging his fist against the table. 

“METAL!! AHAHAHAHEHEEHEHEHEEHEHEHAHAHEHEE~!” Crash laughed hard. 

“You could say I truly BLEW HIM AWAY MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM--” Metal said, grinning from receptor to receptor. 

“NO!!” Quick shouted amongst his laughter. “AHAHAAHHA YOU PIECE OF SCRAP! DON’T MAKE ME LAUGH AT YOUR PUNS AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA~!” At that, Metal began cackling and joined the other three in their fits of laughter. 

The four Robot Masters laughed themselves silly at the table. Crash tried to wipe the tears at the corners of his eyes, but he sadly couldn’t, for he had drills for hands. “M-Metal..! G-god damnit, my eyes sting now!” Crash laughed. Metal grabbed a napkin and wiped at Crash’s eyes. “T-thanks… Oh god, w-wait until you guys hear Metal’s Heat impression!” 

“I’M NOT READY,” Quick yelled, smiling from receptor to receptor and trying his best to regulate his breathing and compose himself. 

Crash took deep breaths to calm himself down. Metal did the same. “Phew…” Crash said, before the memory of Metal’s Heat impression allowed some memories from their night full of distractions to resurface. He grinned his sharktooth grin. He looked at Metal, and then at Flash and Quick. “Oh YEAH. I JUST REMEMBERED SOMETHING!” He said, looking at Metal again. Metal gave him a curious look. His grin widened. “SPEAKING of something that happened a whileee back involving that, a, uh… certain cutting Robot Master that I might be really in love with, wanted to, um, know something about you, Quick…” 

Metal lifted an eyebrow now. He tried to recall in his memory databank what Crash was referencing from that day he used his Heat Man impression, but instead of quotes resurfacing within his CPU, he instead was hit with waves of rather… distracting imagery. Metal began to blush faintly and lifted his glass of water up to drink. 

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” Quick asked, finally calming himself down. 

Crash’s grin could not get any wider at that point. “So Quick, do you give or receive?” 

Metal choked on his water and spilled it all over himself. His face began to burn red. “C-CRASH--” He tried to say, but he coughed harshly and scrambled for the napkin cloth on the table. Flash’s eyes widened and he blushed pink. Quick had a look of sheer amusement written all over his face, and he began to grin at Metal. 

“REALLY, Metal…?” He teased, and Metal coughed harder while trying to avert his gaze from the speedy Robot Master’s eyes. 

“C-CRASH I-I’M DYING-- THANKS A LO--” Metal yelped amongst his coughing. Crash would’ve tried to pat his back, but… you know the drill by now. 

Quick smirked. “Don’t worry, Metal Blades. It was Crashy who asked, so I’ll judge him instead~” Metal let out a guttural groan of despair and extreme chagrin. The scarlet Robot Master then faced Crash. “Well, Crashy, I’m gonna let you try to guess first.” He pointed at the horns on his helmet. “So I’ve got a ‘V’ on my head. And a ‘V’ on my arm. And a ‘V’ on my chest. And my entire body’s got a ‘V’ shape. So tell me, do you think I have a ‘D’ or a ‘V’?” 

Crash blinked rapidly at him, processing what he said, before he tilted his head slightly. “Uhhhh…” Crash droned confusedly, “Uhhh…? I-I don’t know…? I don’t really get the ‘D’ and ‘V’ things…” 

Quick’s smirk dropped and he looked slightly annoyed as a faint blush appeared on his cheeks. “Oh, for the love of-- I thought it was obvious! Do I gotta spell it out for ya? I HAVE A VA-- MMMMHHHFHGHAA!” Quick nearly shouted, if not for Flash covering his mouth. 

“Quick, that’s not really something you should shout in public…” Flash said, before removing his hand from Quick’s lips. “...Quick receives. I give.” He explained shortly and sweetly to the two. 

“Ohhhhhhhh!” Crash finally realized. “Cool~! You’re on my team then!” He said cheerily to Quick. 

“So would that make Metal the giver?” Quick asked curiously, peeking at the burgundy robot. Both of Metal’s hands were covering his face, but it didn’t hide the burning red blush on his face very well. 

“This conversation is not happening right now,” Metal barely squeaked out, trying hard to shrink into himself, but having a metallic body was making that quite hard. 

“Nah, he also receives.” Crash said casually, smiling widely. 

“Oh really now? Then how do you two go about your… you know…” Quick asked, grinning at the cutter robot now. 

“Well… Metal’s hands are really nice for me, but Metal…” 

“Crash, noooooooo… Dooooon’t…” Metal whined in despair from behind his metallic hands. His face was completely flushed a deep red at this point. 

“Let’s just say that Metal prefers a different kind of ‘D’~.” Crash playfully cooed. Metal threw himself face-down on the table at that point, feeling defeated, weak, and both horribly flustered AND embarrassed. Quick stared at Metal for a second, before looking at Crash. Him and his partner stared at the orange Wilybot blankly and they blinked at him. Then Crash lifted up one of his shiny drills and smirked widely. Quick and Flash’s eyes both grew huge upon seeing the drill. 

_“Oh my god,”_ Quick said with sheer surprise, looking at Metal. “Holy shit. _Holy shit. Metal.”_ He then grinned widely. “Metal, you are a _champ.”_

Metal let out a muffled noise that sounded like a miserable wail. 

_“Wow.”_ Flash breathed. “I’m actually amazed. Not gonna lie.” He looked at Crash again. “When did you two start getting to that point in your relationship?” 

“Well, actually… ahah, it’s kind of funny, because that’s actually how we started to get to know each other.” Flash gave Crash a confused, shocked look. “W-wait, wait, let me explain!” He took a deep breath. “O-okay, so back when it was just me and Metal, I was, uh… a lot angrier. I’m still angry today at what Dr. Wily did to all of us. But it was… a lot worse then. I almost blew up the warehouse, but Metal stopped me and then for some reason, my Crash Bombers were broken and I couldn’t fire them? Well… Metal was just… he was just there for me.” Crash’s smile softened into something warm and sweet. “He would listen to me everytime I get angry. He would calm me down and tell me nice things and make me feel not useless and not frustrated all the time. And, the more and more he did it, I just… felt less angry, and I just wanted to listen to him more.” Crash said softly while blushing lightly. He could feel his core beginning to flutter again. “Oh, and then we had some distractions while all of that was happening.” He added, smiling coyly. 

“‘Distractions’?” Flash asked, tilting his head slightly. 

“Well, what do YOU call it?!” Crash asked. “I’m talking about--” And then Crash revved and spun his lifted drill loudly and quickly. Metal peeked his eyes open at Crash from his position on the table. Flash’s face burned red. 

“I-I get it now,” the temporal robot said. “We just have a different name for it.” 

“Besides ‘the sexy’?” Quick joked, laughing to himself whilst Flash’s face flushed redder. 

“I only said that once! And that was a long time ago!” Flash barked at his partner. Quick simply giggled at his partner. 

“Awwww, but Flashy~... That’s such a cute name for it~.” Quick teased. 

“Well anyways, that’s how Metal and I got together at first. And then we’ve been going on nonstop trips to Cuddletown, and then we rescued the both of you, and here we are now on our first date~!” Crash gushed happily, bringing a drill over and trying to rub Metal’s back. “Oh yeah, that also reminds me!” Crash gasped. Metal watched Crash carefully from his position on the table. “When are you two gonna tell me how you two got together?” 

Quick smiled at the drillbot. “Not today, Crashy.” He said simply, sipping at his drink. 

“Awwwww, c’mon! You haven’t ever told me yet! You won’t even now that we’re not working for Dr. Wily anymore?” Crash whined. 

Quick’s smile twitched. “...It’s… not really a good story to tell. At least not out here in public, if you know what I mean.” He then followed that statement up with a wink, and Crash seemed to get it. 

“Ohhhhhhh, I get it! So it’s kinda like me and Metal then, but more extreme, right?” Crash asked, grinning. Quick chuckled at him and sipped at his drink. 

“Something like that. I’ll tell you soon, I promise. Not today, though.” 

Metal stared at Quick, trying to decipher what he meant by what he said. His eyes narrowed suspiciously at the scarlet Robot Master. Said red eyes then flickered over to Flash, who met them with his bright green eyes. Flash’s expression didn’t change, but he did end up silently mouthing two words to Metal with a rather clear annunciation. _Drop it._

The burgundy Robot Master sat up straight in his seat and looked over at Quick. “You know… the waiter’s taking an awfully long time to get back to us. Are you two gonna try to dance in the meantime?” 

Everything about Quick seemed to brighten up at the mention of dancing. He straightened his posture and he grinned widely. “Oh hell yeah! You gonna join us?” 

Metal shook his head no. “Haha, no thanks. Dancing isn’t really my thing…” 

“Whaaat,” Quick groaned, pouting. “Laaaaame… Have you always been a killjoy?” 

“What-- no, no, it’s not like that,” Metal explained, holding his hands up. “It’s not like that I don’t LIKE the idea of dancing, it’s just… I… I, uh… I’ve never really danced before.” 

Quick almost spittook everything he drank in the past fives minutes at the cutter robot. “W-WHAAAT? _Never?”_ Metal sadly shook his head no. He looked at Crash. 

“Don’t look at me. Doesn’t dancing involve using hands?” Crash said. “I haven’t tried it.” 

“WHAT?!” Quick yelped, as if their lack of dancing was somehow the most offensive thing he’s ever heard in his life. He looked at his partner with a fiery determination. “Flash, we gotta give ‘em a crash course.” He rocketed out of his seat and bounced lightly on his feet. Flash just smiled to himself. 

“Sure, why not. And it’s been a long time since we’ve last danced, anyways~” Flash cooed at his partner as he slowly got up out of the booth’s seat and stood up. He began to lightly stretch while Quick bolted over to one of the corners of the restaurant, presumably where the DJ was. The speedy robot whispered something in the man’s ear, before he nodded and smirked, reaching below his little stand for some records and equipment. Flash looked at Crash and Metal. “We’re no masters of dance, but dancing together with someone is one of the most fun things I can think of, honestly. We’ll dance a little bit first and if you wanna try it, just let us know, okay? I promise we’ll go easy on you.” 

Crash nodded his head excitedly. “Mhmm! Yeah!” Metal simply nodded and flashed him a smile. Flash grinned back at them before turning around and heading over to the dancefloor that wasn’t too far away. 

The lights began to dim down even moreso than before, before the lights just above the dancefloor brightened ever so slightly. Soon, a song began to play loudly through the speakers. Flash saw Quick begin to make his way back over to him with a bouncy strut in his step. It took Flash a couple of seconds to realize that the song was actually a club remix of an 80’s song Flash knew very well. It was one of his favorites. The blue robot’s eyes widened in excitement and he grinned at his partner. He felt his circuits already begin to speed up and race through his body. The two closed the distance between each other and Quick placed one hand on Flash’s hip and the other hand interlocked with Flash’s hand. Their rings and their polished armor glistened and gleamed in the atmospheric lighting. 

They soon began to move in harmony with one another, taking almost synchronized steps. Flash couldn’t help himself but sway his hips a little with the steps he took and Quick only began to get into the rhythm more and more, copying Flash and becoming more smooth with his motions. The two pulled away from each other but never let go of their interlaced hands, and then pulled back in a smooth motion. The first lyrics sounded above the slow, bouncy synth beat. 

_~♪ I feel the night explode, when we’re together. Emotion overload, in the heat of pleasure ♪~_

Quick and Flash pulled away from each other again in rhythm to the beat. Their harmony was in absolutely no way or shape formal; It was fluid, smooth, reactive, dependent on each other. Flash pulled again and this time Quick twirled him around and Flash spun fast, until he fell over. Quick caught him with perfect timing and Flash posed in his arms. 

_~♪ Take me, I’m yours, into your arms… Never let me go. Tonight, I really need to know… ♪~_

Their dancing continued and as they danced, their movements became less and less stiff, and more and more personal and free-flowing. Flash would spin, Quick’s whole body moved as one with his partner’s. Quick pulled Flash close and flipped him around, and the two metallic bodies swayed as one lovingly, Flash bringing up a hand to caress Quick’s jaw for a moment, before sliding that hand away and stepping away from the speedy robot. 

_~♪ Body to body, soul to soul, always feel you near. So say the words I long to hear… ♪~_

Flash danced his way away from Quick, his hips and legs moving like he were made of liquid. Quick, in the meantime, showed off some fancy footwork in his dance steps. 

Crash glanced around for only a split second. Flash and Quick had the entire restaurant’s full attention. Some women were giving the two robots looks, almost as if they were jealous. The climax of the song soon approached. 

_~♪ Love, love on the run… Breaking us down, though we keep holding on… ♪~_

Quick began to spin amongst his footwork and Flash faced Quick. Their eyes met for a split second, and in that moment, it was like they knew exactly what the other felt and thought. 

_~♪ I don’t want to lose. No, I can’t… ♪~_

Flash suddenly ran towards his partner whilst Quick spun down onto one knee. He held one of his red metallic hands out in the air. Flash suddenly whirled around and fell backwards onto Quick’s hand. 

_~♪ Let you go… ♪~_

Quick lifted Flash up with one hand and got back onto two feet, posing. Above him, Flash arched his back and struck a dramatic pose as his body lights flared and glowed, radiating a soft white light from his body. Audible gasps could be heard from their audience, before suddenly loud clapping erupted from all of the humans. Quick soon enough pushed his partner into the air for a second, before quickly changing his body position so he could catch him with both arms, holding him bridal style. 

Flash’s lights dimmed and he looked up at his partner who panted lightly and held him tenderly in his arms. His soft, bright green eyes met with Quick’s sky blue eyes, and Flash’s core welled up with so much warmth and love right then. “I love you…” Flash purred to him, smiling up beautifully at Quick. Quick’s core fluttered and his circuits raced. 

“I love you, too… C’mere~” Quick purred back, before he craned his head down to meet with Flash’s and the two kissed tenderly and lovingly as Quick attempted to walk off of the dancefloor and back to their booth. 

“Well, ain’t that a blast from the past, ladies and gentlemen. Give another round of applause to those lovebots. They know how to -dance-!” The DJ spoke into the microphone, booming across the restaurant. And then said restaurant exploded into applause again, this time with cheering. 

Flash and Quick soon broke their romantic kiss, and Quick gently put Flash back onto his feet, before hastily making their way back to the booth. Quick grinned at his ‘brothers’. “So, what’d you think?” He asked. Crash stared up at the two of them silently, before sipping his soda again. He looked completely awe-stricken. Metal, however, had a faint blush on his cheeks, and a huge, starry-eyed look. He blinked at them for a few seconds before snapping back to reality. 

“Quick.” Metal began, before putting his hands on the table and Crash’s seat. Something strong and passionate began to burn within his core. “Quick, I want to dance like that. I want to learn. You’ve gotta teach us.” 

Flash smiled and grabbed for his glass of water. “Of course, we will.” He sipped at the water as the DJ played another song over the speakers. Flash instantly could tell which song this was a club remix of this time and he grinned again. “Oh, that’s a good one.” He put his drink down and held his hand out for Crash. “C’mon, you two.” Crash smiled widely and put his drill in Flash’s hand as he pulled up the drillbot to his feet. Metal was a little hesitant, suddenly feeling very, very inconveniently nervous and insecure. Oh god, that meant -right now.- He was about to attempt -dancing- right now in front of everybody. Some part of his CPU screamed internally. 

Quick grabbed his hands. “C’mon, Metal Blades, don’t be shy now. The dancefloor’s fine~. We’re gonna teach you the basics, mmm’kay?” He pulled Metal to his feet and the cutter robot looked up at Quick, before shakily nodding. “C’mon, c’mon!” 

Other human couples have already begun to dance on the dancefloor. None of it was formal, just everyone simply having a good time. The robots did get a couple of cheers when the remainder of the humans who stayed in their seats noticed who was coming back to the dancefloor. Quick and Flash pulled Metal and Crash to the edge of the dancefloor where it was significantly less crowded and congested with humans. They positioned the cutter robot and drillbot face-to-face, before Flash paused and put a hand to his armored chin. 

“...He’s got drills instead of hands…” Flash murmured, before looking up at Quick. “How’re we gonna make this work?” 

“Hmmmm.” Quick hummed, looking over Metal and Crash. Poor Metal was nervously fidgeting and wringing his hands and Crash watched them confusedly. He grabbed both of Metal’s hands and placed one of them on Crash’s shoulder and the other on his hip. Metal looked at Quick nervously. “You’ll be fine, Metal Blades, don’t worry…” He murmured to him. 

“Hmmmmm…” Flash also hummed, looking all around Crash. “Maybe…?” He grabbed one of Crash’s drills and held it against Metal’s side. He tried it with the other drill and stepped back. “...no, no. Maybe…” He took Metal’s hand off of Crash’s shoulder and placed it on his drill instead. “Hold that, okay?” Quick took Crash’s other drill and put it by his own hip, before placing Metal’s other hand on top of said drill. 

“How’s that?” Quick asked the temporal robot, looking at the two of them. 

“I think that can work!” Flash said, smiling widely. He then addressed the two robots holding each other. “Alright, so the first rule of dancing is that there are no rules at all. There’s no set-in-stone, textbook way on how to dance, but we can try to guide you as best as we can. You can still dance any way you want to. Metal, you’re the taller one, so you’re probably gonna end up guiding Crash more than the other way around. The two of you are dependent on each other, and when you’re together, you usually end up dancing together in harmony.” 

Quick grabbed Metal’s sides and Flash did the same with Crash’s. “Okay, so when Metal steps back, you follow by stepping forward, okay, Crashy?” He emphasized it by tugging Metal back a step, and Crash easily followed suit with Flash’s help. “When he steps forward, you take a step back.” He pushed Metal forward and Flash pulled Crash back. Metal couldn’t help himself but shuffle his steps, and Crash was a little clumsy. “Trust me, the more ya do it, the easier it becomes, okay? You also can step side to side, sway, swing your hips, whatever you want. And this ain’t a waltz, so there’s no rhythm or counting you need to do this to. You can go at whatever speed you want.” 

“There’s counting in dancing? There’s math?” Crash asked, wide eyed. 

“Not in this dance, trust me.” Quick said. “Now, we’re gonna pull back. Crash, you gotta absolutely make sure your Crash Bombers NEVER come out of your arms, okay? You clench those drills tight.” He said, before he pulled Metal away from Crash. “Hold on with one hand, ‘k?” Flash also pulled Crash away, Metal never letting go of one of Crash’s drills, before Quick and Flash pushed them back together. 

“Okay, again, and Metal, hold your hand up high.” Flash said, as this time, Metal pulled back on his own, pulling his hand and Crash’s drill high. “And now, Crash? Spin around~” Crash complied and twirled around, his drill rotating differently from his body and letting him spin as much as he wanted to. “Great! You guys are doing great so far!” Flash said, smiling widely. “Aaand come back together.” Crash ceased spinning and clumsily threw himself back to Metal. “We’re gonna let you try it on your own now. Remember, everything we taught you aren’t set-in-stone rules of dancing, you can still do whatever you want, okay?” 

“Have fuuun~,” Quick chimed, before he and Flash let go of the other two Robot Masters and made their way back to their booth. They watched them from afar. 

“Oh god,” Metal breathed, before nervously chuckling and grabbing Crash’s other drill with trembling hands. 

Crash just looked up at him and chuckled as well, smiling. The two of them stepped in unison, trying their best to follow Quick and Flash’s advice. Their movements were awkward and clumsy, and Metal ended up accidentally bumping his feet against Crash’s often. Crash tried to pull away and Metal complied, feeling the both of them tug apart from each other for just a moment before pulling themselves back to each other like a magnet. They did it again and Crash giggled while Metal’s mouth began to curve up into a shy smile. It didn’t take them long before the beat of the music that filled their audio receptors began to take over their movements as they began to naturally move in sync to the beat of the song. 

_~♪ And when the night falls, my loneliness calls… ♪~_

Metal began to become a little more confident with his steps, guiding Crash from side to side, before swaying and shimmying his hips. Crash grinned and did the same. Metal lifted his arm up and Crash twirled and twirled, until he became dizzy and fell over against Metal, who caught him in his embrace. The both of them began to laugh happily against one another, hugging each other. 

_~♪ I wanna feel the heat with somebody. Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody, with somebody who loves me ♪~_

Crash regained his balance and tugged his drills to try to pull Metal, before turning to the side and beginning to spin the cutter robot around. The two of them spun together and laughed more, and Crash’s core fluttered harder than it’s ever had the moment he looked into Metal’s pretty, blushing face and his beautiful, ruby red eyes. Metal just had this… stunning smile on his face that Crash has never seen before. He just looked absolutely blissful and gorgeous. Crash blushed red and grinned happily as his core swelled with so much warmth and happiness and glee. Metal soon pulled Crash into his embrace again as he lifted Crash off of his feet and spun around and around. They giggled and laughed happily together, blushing hard. 

_~♪ Somebody who loves me ♪~_

“Look at them,” Flash sighed contently from his seat. One of his hands interlaced with Quick’s against the seat cushion, while his other one rested against his cheek. “They’re adorable together. They remind me of us back then~... Remember our first dance?” He cooed at Quick. 

Quick smiled softly, watching them as well. “Uh, yeah? How could I forget? That was one of the most fun nights of my life…” His memory of that night was a clear as day; him and Flash locking every other robot out of Flash’s sparkly blue battle arena, Flash’s boombox blasting bubbly dance music from that radio station he loved to listen to all the time, the two of them dancing the night away… He was too lost in his own thoughts to notice a couple of humans walk in front of his line of sight and obscure the sight of Metal and Crash sharing their first dance together only for a moment, as they headed towards the exit. One more, donned in a thick coat and scarf, walked on by, but not before discreetly slipping something small onto their table. 

Flash noticed it, however, and lifted an eyebrow at the last person exiting their lane and soon exiting the restaurant. All Flash could pick up from this individual was that they had… white hands? He then looked down at the small strip they put on the table, and he picked it up. “Hey, Quick?” 

“Hmm? What’s that?” Quick asked, unfortunately having to tear his eyes away from Metal and Crash doing what he thought was the cutest dancing he’s ever seen. 

“Somebody just walked by and gave us this.” Upon further examination, he was holding a business card of some sort. He read it and realized it was a business card for a dance studio. The phone number and hours of the establish have been heavily scribbled out in ink pen, and an arrow drawn with the words ‘back’ next to it. Flash flipped the card to its back and on it was a different phone number. Something was handwritten right underneath it. 

_-You can call me anytime-_

“Guess somebody’s a fan of our moves~,” Quick chirped happily, smiling wide. Flash didn’t think too hard about it and simply shrugged and smiled. 

“I guess so. I’ll hold onto this.” Flash agreed, before opening his arm’s compartment hatch and putting the card in there. He looked back at Metal and Crash, which the cutter robot dipped the drillbot and gazed into each other’s eyes romantically, before Metal’s trembling arms gave out and dropped Crash by accident. Crash fell down and thankfully just began laughing and so did Metal, who squatted down and held his hands out. Their song ended and a new song began playing. “Quick,” He began, looking at the speedy robot. “…You up for round two? The night’s still young~.” 

Quick flashed Flash a smirk and fluttered his eyes. “Why, of course, Flashy~” He got out of the booth’s seats and stood up. He held his hand out. “I’ll go as many rounds as you like~…” Flash grabbed his hand and was pulled up onto his feet. Quick’s smirk widened into a playful smile. “Shall we?” 

“Of course~” Flash cooed, before the two bounded towards the dancefloor together. The night air pulsed and echoed with the sounds of club beats, laughter and footsteps, and two happy couples dancing the night away. The robots became a personal harmony together, their bodies moving as a rhythmic and romantic duet against the music that vibrated through their entire selves, their love speaking to one another, from core to core.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaahhhh!!   
> What do you guys think of this chapter? I worked really hard on this one and put a lot more research into it than usual.   
> Also, I'll post links to the songs they danced to!   
> Flash/Quick's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEKRKZ8W38M   
> The original song because I swear it's one of the most "80's" songs I have ever heard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2W4U5RISCo   
> Metal/Crash's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga8n5gSlLkA 
> 
> Please comment and tell me what you guys think! I had fun writing this but boy am I tired hahahaha! I always greatly appreciate comments and I usually end up gushing over them ahaha XD Stay tuned for the next chapter~!


	11. System Restore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I'm back! 
> 
> Wow... I can't believe that we've already hit 11 chapters. I'd just like to thank everybody who's been on this ride with me so far, holy heck. I'm so glad to have gotten this far! You guys really motivate me! <3 Also, this chapter is officially longer than the NSFW I wrote! It's a long one... Onto the chapter, shall we?

The birds have been silent. The distant sounds of cars zooming down the highway weren’t present to fill the silent void in the air, presumably due to the towering highway above having been shut down for construction and repairs. For the last week, the only sound that dominated the forest was the heavy pattering of rain, howling winds, and omnipresent, booming thunder. 

Today, however, rays of light shined down and broke through heavy, thick, clouds overlaying on top of one another. If not for the rays of light, the sky would be completely cloaked in a grey blanket made of stratus clouds. The ethereal, golden veils touched the dark hills and mountain and valley and like magic, the greenery seemed to have come to life, their true, vibrant happy colors finally revealed themselves after what felt like a whole week of nothing but cold and rain and wind and overcast skies. It was refreshing and relieving to say the very least. 

Crash Man stared out of one of the many windows that adorned the no-longer-forgotten warehouse. He gazed at the golden hills and trees and his lips pulled up into a wide smile. Upon the realization that there is a ray of clear skies amongst the terrible weather lately, his face lit up like sunshine and he turned to face his brothers to spread the news. “Guys!” He nearly gasped in excitement and almost shattered the window when he pointed his drill at the sky, “The skies are clearing up! I don’t think it’s going to rain anymore!” 

One of his brothers was quick to respond as his head shot up from the couch laid on. “Oh, FINALLY.” Quick Man said, nearly rocketing out of his seat and almost knocking a resting Metal Man to the floor in the process, whose legs previously rested atop of Quick’s lap. Metal grabbed for any part of the couch and prevented himself from tumbling to the floor. He picked up his dropped novel and continued to read where he left off. Quick hastily made his way over to Crash and peered out the window. “Oh wow…” Quick breathed quietly, his optics taking in those rays of light and just admiring the beauty that was the sky finally brightening and lighting up with warm colors after a week of nothing but cool, depressing grays. “Look at that…” 

“Do you think we’re not gonna get poured on today?” Crash asked, looking up at the speedy Robot Master. 

“Hmm. We might, but I’m always willing to take some chances.” Quick answered, before smirking lightly to himself. It wasn’t like the rain actually did anything to the Robot Masters, not unless one of them were Heat Man, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant nor comfortable to be pelted with a heavy, torrential downpour for hours on end. The humans in the city also had quite the negative reactions to the unrelenting rain as well, closing up their stores entirely and staying indoors for basically the entire week. Quick turned away from the window and faced Metal and Flash. “Alrighty boys, who’s ready to do something?!” 

“But we are doing something,” Flash and Metal answered in unison. Metal had his robotic nose in his book reading, whilst Flash was sketching out a new picture on the only desk in the warehouse. The desk itself was mostly cluttered with completed sketches and illustrations the temporal robot had drawn earlier in the week. They were mostly random, of the scenery outside, the rain, his partner, his brothers, doodles of Drum and Roll battling… 

“I meant something outdoors!” Quick barked at the two of them. “Aren’t you bored just staying in here for an entire week? Ugh, I want to RUN out there!” He could barely stand it. His legs have felt antsy and jittery the whole week. To not have the wide, open outdoors to run across, to not be able to feel the sun’s warm rays hit his synthetic skin or bounce off of his shiny armor… or to not feel the wind rush past his body as he tears through the air and land… it was torture. It was like a special, _slow_ kind of torture to him. The boredom was suffocating. He tried to run outside before in the rain, but he nearly got blown away by strong, violent winds. And running indoors just simply doesn’t have the same charm as running outside does. “Come on, we have no idea when the weather’s gonna turn to shit again… Why not enjoy the sunlight while we can? It’s been a week since we last saw the sun!” 

“We can go out together soon enough,” Flash begin, never taking his eyes off of his drawing, “but do you think you could give us around 10 or so minutes first? I’m almost done with the rough draft.” 

“Actually, make that thirty minutes.” Metal added, turning another page in his novel. 

“Nooooo!” Quick whined, “I can’t wait that long! I swear I’m going to freakin’ self destruct if I hafta wait any longer.” 

“Please don’t explode?” Flash replied. 

“Do we even have that feature?” Crash asked curiously. 

“We do actually! But, uh, I wouldn’t recommend trying it out.” Quick said, before smiling at him. “Well, we could at least do something while our slowpoke partners take an eternity to get ready. You up for a run, Crashy?” 

Crash glanced at Metal and Flash for just a moment. Well, he couldn’t draw and he couldn’t read books… He faced Quick and offered a small smile back. “Yeah, sure. But uh… please don’t ditch me in the woods? I’m not really a fast robot…” 

Quick’s smile widened. “Nah, I’m not gonna do that. I barely know these woods myself. C’mon.” He headed towards the exit and Crash followed suit. The air around them was damp, but fresher than ever. The speedy robot basked in it for only a moment, before crouching down. “Climb on. You tell me where to go, and I’ll give you a taste of what being _quick_ is like.” 

Crash grinned and without any hesitation, he bounded over to Quick and tried his best to climb onto his back. Quick hoisted up his legs and held him, before carefully standing back up. The drillbot was almost vibrating in place, he could barely contain his excitement. When was the last time he got a piggyback ride from Quick of all Robot Masters? What… the first week he was active? He threw his arms over Quick’s shoulders as said scarlet robot lightly stretched his legs before bouncing in place. “Where to?” Quick asked. Crash’s grin widened as he pointed his drill in a very specific direction towards the forest that encompassed them. “Alrighty! Hang tight!” And with that, Quick rocketed off into the woods, Crash clinging to him and laughing.

~~~~~

Incessant foot-tapping filled the unusual silence in the air. Quick scowled, letting his impatience get the best of him. Him and Crash already went on a run, and Flash and Metal were STILL taking their sweet time to get ready. It’s not like they have to do all the things that humans have to do when they get ready. It’s not like they’re going on a date today, either. Although, Quick thought to himself coyly, another date would be incredibly fun… Maybe a day just to me and Flashy-- ooohhh, and we could go wherever we want… we could even get a room and… Quick’s eyes lit up and his cheeks became dusted with shades of red, but only for a moment. He then scowled again. Wait. That costs money. And if we don’t pay the tab for a room, they’ll certainly remember us and then we wouldn’t be able to go there again-- and that’d SUCK if it was actually a decent hotel, too! Aw hell, what if it ends up being our favorite? He wasn’t going to risk it. Not with something like a room.

Well shit. If we can’t go on a date, and the city’s closed most of their fun places because of all the shit weather lately, then what the hell are we supposed to do? Quick’s CPU thoroughly ran through all the options that surfaced within itself first. We could always visit Dr. Light and pester Megaman. But for no reason this time? Something about that idea didn’t quite feel right. And not to mention, if he looks at Megaman for any more than 10 minutes, he’s bound to feel the urge to shove a million Quick Boomerangs up his nonexistent posterior. That’s just what happens whenever he sees him. It was almost exhausting, thinking about how much he hates the Blue Bomber. He scratched that off of his mental to-do list. 

Wait. WAIT. Oh yeah, that’s right! Quick thought to himself, I have an actual to-do list! The scarlet robot wasted no time opening a compartment hatch in his left forearm, and dug around in it until he felt out a familiar, neatly-folded piece of paper, and pulled it out. He unfolded it and looked it over, feeling nostalgia wash over him. The paper was soft and withered from years of old age. In faded pencil, the to-do list read: 

_#Post-Megaman Ass-Kicking Goals:_

_-Take Flash out on 100 dates (after this, shoot for 500)_  
_-Find ultimate racing rival_  
_-Travel all over the world_  
_-Upgrade yourself and get better eyes_  
_-Master your damn speed finally_

He smiled and shook his head, before he reached inside his arm and pulled out a tiny pencil. He checked off the little box he drew next to the ‘Upgrade yourself’ option, while looking over the others. Dates cost money, so does world-travelling, and the city is mostly empty and devoid of humans and robots alike this week, meaning it’s probably a bad day to try to look for a racing rival. That left one other option and Quick put the paper and pencil back into his forearm before closing the hatch. 

Master my speed, huh… Quick closed his eyes. Training was free, technically. And he finally has better eyes, too. He could spend the day working on his top speed and his control. After all, that run with Crash didn’t leave him feeling quite satisfied yet. Sure, he went fast and Crash liked it, but… _Why wasn’t I faster? I could do much better than this. I normally go faster, I just know it._ Was he getting rusty? …Metaphorically, that is. The thought made his core burn. That… that couldn’t be right. Even so, if he could get worse, then that means he could get better too. His CPU flickered through memories back to when he fought Megaman over a week ago and he scowled. He’s gotten so much stronger over the years, and the size of the skill gap between them was almost insulting to him. He felt so weak that day. He felt so _slow._ He couldn’t stand the feeling. His legs began to shake again in anticipation. He wanted to run. He wanted to go faster! If _Megaman_ can get stronger, then _he_ could become quicker! He wanted to become-- 

His express train of thought was interrupted when he heard the sounds of warehouse doors opening, and his three robot ‘brothers’ finally came out. His impatient foot tapping only intensified. “About time you guys decided to come out here. What took you so long?” He asked. 

Flash shot him a look of confusion. “But… it’s only been four minutes since you and Crash returned?” 

Quick returned his look with his own look of mild annoyance and simply tapped his foot more. His partner simply smiled in understanding and began to head over to their car and start it. “Alright, alright, I get it. Everyone get in the car.” He announced as Quick was climbing into shotgun seat and Metal let Crash into the backseat first before climbing in himself. Flash fumbled with the dashboard’s settings before shooting his partner a glance. “Where to, today?” He asked, his smile widening. 

“We’re heading to the Doc’s lab today!” Quick chirped back, forgetting his annoyance. 

“Oh, why are we going there?” Flash asked, but shifted the car into Drive regardless and slowly made their way down the dirt path to the nearest country road. 

“Well, we are gonna train!” 

“Whaaaaat,” Metal whined, leaning into his seat more. “Why do we still have to train? Are we being drafted into a 10th War or something?” 

“W-what kind of training are we talking about here?” Crash asked hesitantly and nervously. 

Flash shot Quick a curious look. “Are you going to have more rematches with Megaman?”

The scarlet Robot Master smirked. “I promise it ain’t gonna be anything like what we were put through years ago. And NO, I don’t care about beating him anymore. It’s just that I’ve noticed something that’s been buggin’ me real bad. Didn’t you see how much stronger Megaman got since he last fought us? How much he grew? I’m thinkin’ now… if Megaman can grow, can’t we grow a little bit, too? Can’t we step up our game as well? I wanna get faster, at least.” 

“True, you’re not wrong,” Metal huffed, before crossing his arms, “But WHY though? If you ask me, it’s not necessary at all. Aren’t we decent enough already where we are?” 

“Are you happy where you are, though? After what you told me about you getting defeated in almost one hit?” Quick retorted, before smirking. 

“Okay, listen here you piece of scrap,” Metal began, narrowing his eyes. “Do you wanna fight?!” He barked.

“YEAH I wanna fight! I bet you can’t even keep up with me!” Quick said, feeling his circuits begin to race in excitement. 

“Do you want to go?!” Metal yelled.

“Yeah, let’s go!!” Quick yelled back. 

“Let’s go!” 

“Let’s go!” 

“Let’s go!”

“Let’s g--” 

“How about we don’t fight in the car, please? You two can go when we’re training. Okay?” Flash pleaded. The car drove up the mountainside hill. 

“Fine then. But I’m kicking your ass later.” Metal retorted at the speedy robot. 

“If you can even hit me,” Quick said, grinning. 

Metal couldn’t help himself but grin as well. “Is that a challenge?” 

“It might be.” Quick’s grin grew wider. Crash looked between the two with wide eyes and concern written all over his face. 

“You guys aren’t going to murder each other, are you?” He asked hesitantly. Both robots’ eyes widened and they shook their heads no. 

“Nah, it’s not gonna be anything like that. We’re just gonna spar later,” Metal said, smiling softly behind his mask and then leaning against Crash. “Nobody’s going to fight to the death, okay? That kind of thing’s over and done with years ago.” 

“Oh thank goodness,” Crash exhaled in relief, relaxing. 

“Yeah, no one’s dyin’ today, Crashy. It’ll be fun today, I promise! Training is not only gonna help us better ourselves, but it’s also gonna make us feel better about ourselves, too. Also, I gotta disagree with ya, Metal. I think it kinda is necessary nowadays, especially since now we’ve got ourselves a little stalker, and Wily’s pissed at us, too. We don’t know if we’re gonna get jumped or not, but we might as well be prepared.” Quick explained. 

Metal processed this and seemed to calm down at his explanation before closing his eyes. When he puts it like that, it definitely sounds like a much better idea now. And not to mention… whenever he thinks about his rematch with Megaman, it still fries his circuits. How could he have lost so badly? Granted, he had no idea he was weak to his own weapon then, but… he could’ve at least _dodged._ But no, he was an overconfident ass then who thought he was invincible. But even so, no amount of training could have prepared any of them for their fights with Megaman. He hated to admit it, but the kid was just simply on another level. His hand reached down and rested on one of Crash’s drills, gently running his thumb along the drill’s grooves. 

He hated thinking about it. It made him feel so weak. He hated feeling weak. Maybe some training would do him some good after all. 

“You never actually told us about that, by the way.” Flash chimed in. “That night we told off Dr. Wily, you said that there was a robot watching you, right? Did you see what he looked like?” 

“Oh shit, I never told you? And yeah, he was spying on me. Uh… I didn’t really get that good of a look at him, but the guy had a shield on his back. And a scarf. Does that ring a bell to anyone?” Quick asked. 

Metal, Flash, and Crash shook their heads no. “Nope. Not in the slightest. I’ve never seen a Robot Master with a shield before…” Metal said quietly. Soon enough, their car approached the lone house amongst the sea of rolling green hills, otherwise known as Dr. Light’s laboratory and Megaman’s home. Flash parked the car in their empty driveway and the robots soon filed out of the car. 

The four stood at the front door and Quick knocked on the door loudly. Metal followed up by incessantly ringing the doorbell way too many times. They waited patiently… but nobody answered the door after a few minutes. “Welp, there’s only one thing to do now. Crash, drill the door,” Quick stated, taking a step back. Crash grinned widely and was about to ram a rapidly-spinning drill through the front door when Metal put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Hold on, don’t drill the door yet. Lemme check something.” He said, before walking around the perimeters of the house and eventually stopped at the back of the house. He peered through the window to the kitchen and as he suspected, he found a certain blonde-haired Robot Master girl busily and happily at work. She was lost in her cooking and singing. 

“♪ Look inside my heart, this is where it starts~ Is is meant to be? Oh, I want to believe~ ♪” 

Metal’s audio receptor extensions twitched as her soft, bubbly voice dominated the quiet white noise that was the TV in the living room and the chatter of another person whose voice he didn’t recognize. He wasn’t one to really judge or critique, but he found her voice rather pleasant to listen to. 

“♪ Hold me closer now~ Will you take a vow and don’t ever let me go~? ♪” 

The cutter robot eventually decided to interrupt the song by tapping his metal finger against the window pane, producing a ‘tink! tink!’ sound. Without thinking, she glanced up at the window and Metal waved hi to her. After about half a second, she suddenly jolted in place and accidentally threw all of her cooking ladles and knives into the air in sheer surprise, yelping loudly. But as soon as she was startled, she immediately snapped into action and flawlessly caught every knife and soup ladle in her hands and mouth, before carefully placing them against the counter. She opened the window. 

“Wow, those are some fast reflexes. I’m impressed.” Metal chirped at her, smiling behind his mask. 

“M-Metal, h-h-how long were you there?” Roll stuttered, her face flushing a bright and vibrant red in utter embarrassment. 

“Only long enough to hear a verse of your song. You have a very nice singing voice, did you know that?” Metal said. 

“O-oh, you stop that… I-I’m not that good,” Roll said, looking away, before tending to her cooking pan and cutting board again. Looks like she was prepping some kind of sausage dish, and was in the middle of cutting lines down the center of links of sweet sausage. 

“Lies and slander. What was that song, by the way? It was nice, too.” Metal asked, leaning his elbows against the window pane. 

“Oh, actually Elec Man wrote that song! A-and then when he heard me sing it, h-he liked it so much that he started calling it my ‘theme song’, ahaha…” Roll sheepishly said, returning to skinning the sausage links. 

That’s precious, Metal thought. “He makes music?” He asked, lifting an eyebrow. 

“Well, whenever he’s got spare time,” the cleaner robot answered. “He composes songs and plays guitar, too!” 

“Really… You know, I’m starting to get a lot more curious about him now. I think I might wanna meet him sometime.” Metal said, smiling wider, before looking down at her hands. “Also, if you, uh, open the front door, I could help you make lunch today.” 

“Of course! Wait, hasn’t the door been opened yet?” She turned around, and finally spotted the closed door. She looked at the Robot Master sitting on the couch and she pouted. “HEY! GO OPEN THE DOOR!” No response from the Robot Master. She turned to Metal for a moment, “Give me a second, please.” She put her knife down, hastily washed and dried her hands, before grabbing her broom. 

… 

Flash constantly rang the doorbell and he looked at Quick. “Do you think they might be out of the house?” He asked. 

“That would completely blow for us. They better not be!” Quick retorted. “And Metal hasn’t come back either. Maybe we should drill the door down…” 

“On it!” Crash said, lifting his drill again, but right before he began to spin it, loud sounds of broom-smacking and Robot Master screaming sounded from the other side of the entrance. After half a minute, the door opened up, but the person who opened said door was a Robot Master that none of them have ever seen before. He stared at the Wilybots and blinked. 

“Uh… hello?” He spoke quietly. 

“Hiya!” Crash chirped happily. 

“Uh, who are you?” 

“Who are _you?”_ Flash asked back, looking up and down the Robot Master. He was tall, sporting green armor with yellow arrow-shaped patterns adorning it, and had blue eyes. His helmet had raised, green wings on either side of it. 

“My name is Tornado Man. I, uh, haven’t seen any of you before. Are you guys newly built? Doctor Light never mentioned anything about new Robot Masters, lately…” He murmured, still quiet and beginning to shift around a bit. He didn’t look comfortable in the slightest. 

“Pah,” Quick sputtered out before laughing. Crash couldn’t help himself but snicker, too. “You’re funny. We’re five years old.” He said casually. The weather robot lifted an eyebrow. 

Flash kept his composure and added in, “And Dr. Light didn’t build us either. We’re Wilybots.” 

Tornado’s eyes widened and he blinked at them silently for a few seconds, before shutting the door on them. 

But before the door completely shut, Quick wedged his foot in between the door and the wall, halting its closure. He peeked his head through the open space. “Hey hey hey, wait now,” He snickered, calming himself down. “We don’t work for the old man anymore. Dr. Light and Megaman can tell ya, too. It’s the truth.” 

“Why should I believe you?” Tornado said, beginning to feel agitated. “What are you even doing here?” Crash couldn’t help but feel a heavy wave of déjà vu wash over himself. 

“Because unlike our creator, we don’t feel like lying. We need your Doc’s help with something today.” Quick said, offering a warm smile to the weather robot. Tornado’s face didn’t budge an inch. He stared at the Wilybots silently, most likely judging them. 

“Well?” Crash asked impatiently. “Are you gonna let us in or kick us out? I don’t think we really appreciate just standing around here…” 

“I’m trying to figure that out right now. Hold on.” Tornado said, before lifting up the TV remote he held in his free hand and muting the volume. He raised a hand to his audio receptor and pushed down a hidden button. He spoke quietly. “Doctor Light? Rock?” He paused, before eventually the sickly doctor answered, his voice static-y from the transmission. 

“Yes, Tornado?” 

Tornado looked up and down the Wilybots. “...There’s Wilybots at the door. What do I do--” 

“Oh, just let them in already!” Roll called out from the kitchen. She put her utensils down again and stormed up to the door and held it wide open for them. “They’re not gonna do anything evil, they’ve been here before. I trust them.” She said. Tornado simply stepped back with his hands raised in surrender. He may be a robot designed for controlling violent weather, but a determined Roll was no storm he could ever hope to stop. Quick stepped in, followed by Flash, and then Crash. He flashed Roll a wide grin. 

“Thank you dearly~” He chimed happily, before smirking widely. “And are ya sure you should trust us? After all, we’re just big, bad Wilybots that lie all the time.” In the background, Tornado shrunk in on himself a little. 

“I think I’m willing to take my chances, hehe~” Roll giggled. “I totally don’t know why, but I’ve just got a good feeling. And it’s definitely not because I may be friends with some kind Wilybots already~” And almost as if on cue, Metal poked his head through the doorway that lead to the kitchen. 

“Yo.” He waved aloofly at everyone.

Tornado jolted and practically jumped in place. “When did you get here?!” He barked, pointing at Metal. 

“Oh, Roll let me in through the back door, haha.” 

Quick’s smirk shifted into a wide smile. “Thanks again, Roll.” He then turned to Tornado. “So, what are you doing here?” 

Tornado collected himself and regained his composure, before walking over to the couch and sitting down in the middle, and unmuted the TV, but at a lower volume. He let out a heavy sigh. “Doctor Light called me into duty over here. Yesterday, I just barely made it in time to Monstropolis. You all were about to be hit by the full brunt of a Category 4 hurricane if I hadn’t shown up any sooner than I did. I’ve been watching the weather for the past 11 hours to track the hurricane and predict where its new path will take it.” 

Flash took a seat next to him and watched the slowly inching pattern of a bright, swirling mass of bright colors swallow and consume a map of the states that composed the East Coast of the country they lived in. But once the radar hit a particular hour of yesterday, a thin line began to cut into the bright mass of color and split it in two. He watched the lesser half of the now divided hurricane attempt to orbit the larger half, but ultimately dissipate into oblivion whilst the larger half reformed itself and remained stagnant. “So what are hurricanes, anyways?” He asked, watching the screen curiously. 

Tornado gave Flash a confused look. “You’ve lived for five years and you don’t know…?” He turned back to the television and grimaced. “…Well anyways, hurricanes are nasty, terrible, violent storms. They only hit the West and East Coasts of our country, but when they do hit, depending on the category they’re classified as, they hit very, very hard.” He then flipped the channel to a news channel, which was showing footage of the hurricane ravaging and tearing apart a district of Monstropolis. Cars were being overturned, debris shattered windows and slammed violently into buildings, trees were being uprooted… Winds blew so loudly against the camera, the audio often stopped altogether. “They destroy so much of everything, it’s worse than anything a robot could do to a city, if you ask me. They kill humans, tear apart robots, unleash absolute carnage upon anything under its clouds… I was built to intercept just tornadoes, so unfortunately, not even my power is enough to completely stop a hurricane.” 

The unsteady camera then looked up at the stormy dark sky that had flickered in tints of green for a moment, before zooming in on what looked like Tornado Man himself hovering in the air, his lower half consumed by swirling air. He thrusted his arms out as propeller blades extended from his wrists and spun rapidly. From his wrists shot out massive, green-tinted vortexes of wind in the opposite direction of the hurricane’s winds. However, his winds were so powerful that soon enough, the direction of the heavy-falling rain changed completely. The sky flashed green again, before the dark, thick, omnipresent clouds above him began to slowly shift and move in the direction which Tornado fired his Tornado Blow. 

“Your power’s really strong, still…” Crash breathed, watching the screen wide-eyed. “You cut a hurricane in half! And the sun’s out because of you! That’s really impressive!” He then shuddered harshly at the thought of what fighting him must be like. All of those winds, pushing against him and everything around him… Lifting him off of his feet… Causing him to fall… and fall… and fall… The drillbot shook his head and closed his eyes, pushing down and stuffing away his last memories before he collided with the ground and shattered that day. Don’t go there, he commanded himself. Just breathe. He wondered for a moment if Air’s winds were even comparable to Tornado’s… 

“If you can push a damn hurricane back, how could Megaman have taken you out? Assuming you’ve fought him before.” Metal asked, impressed by the sheer, raw power Tornado wielded. 

“I did fight him, in the most recent war. And he, uh, electrocuted me.” Tornado said sheepishly. 

“...So wait. If your weakness is electricity, wouldn’t a single strike of lightning take you out then?” Flash asked. 

“Look, my name is Tornado Man, not Tropical Storm Man. I was primarily built to deal with tornadoes!” Tornado retorted defensively, crossing his arms and scowling. “But I was repurposed after the war to deal with all kinds of storms now.” Quietly behind the couch, the lab’s elevator dinged, and Dr. Light and Rock shuffled into the room, surprised at their sudden company. The sickly doctor was about to open his mouth, but Metal cut him to the chase. 

“Still. You’re a weather-controlling robot, right? Then I find your weakness to be rather… _shocking_ to me.” The cutter robot teased playfully, grinning widely behind his mask. Tornado froze, before shooting Metal a look. Crash groaned loudly and Quick pouted angrily at Metal. 

“It begins,” Flash snickered. He could hear Roll giggling from the kitchen. 

“Metal. METAL, DON’T YOU START PUNNING!” Crash barked at his partner, baring his shark teeth. 

“Now, now, Crash. Don’t _storm_ off already, I didn’t get to the complicated puns yet! These ones are… just a _breeze.”_ Metal snickered, barely able to contain his sick glee from punning. 

Tornado’s mouth began to contort upwards and he was trying to hold in a laugh that wanted to erupt from his lips. “S-s-stop that, what are you doing?!” He stuttered, smiling widely.

“Oh nothing, really… I’m just… _en-lightning_ you with some puns~,” Metal cooed. Tornado began snickering and Roll and and Flash were laughing. 

“S-stop it!! Stop making me laugh!!” Tornado couldn’t contain it anymore and he began to laugh as well. Rock remained quiet, but he began twitching. 

“Metal, NO.” Quick shouted at Metal, which only made him laugh. 

“METAL!” Crash yelled.

Roll walked into the room, ladle in hand and with a wide grin on her face. “Come on, Tornado. You know you like them. I can even tell you some that’ll really… _blow you away!”_ She said, looking at Metal. Metal’s mask retracted to show her the scrap-eating grin he was wearing as he made finger guns at her. She returned the finger guns back at him. 

“OH GOD DAMNIT,” Quick yelled, “NOW SHE’S PUNNING, TOO! LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE, METAL!” 

Tornado was trying so hard not to laugh, but he couldn’t control himself. Roll leaned closer to the weather robot and started in a hushed tone. “One of us… one of us… one of us!” Metal soon joined her. “One of us! One of us!” 

“Don’t encourage him!” Rock yelped at Roll. Roll stuck her tongue out at Rock and Metal grinned even wider upon seeing the super fighting robot. 

“Oh, hey Megaman. Didn’t see ya there. Can you tell me something? Do my puns…” He began. 

“METAL.” Quick warned. 

Crash walked over to the cutter robot and he threw an arm around his side, and then leaned up as close to his audio receptor as he could. His face was calm and content. “Hey… heya, Metal. With the, ah, way you’re punning… It really sounds like you’re willing…” His face then turned menacing and he lifted his other drill. It began to spin rapidly. “...to receive A DRILLING!” 

Metal and Flash couldn’t help but laugh even harder at Crash’s threat. “Hahahaha, I like that! That’s clever, Crash~” Flash said amongst his laughter. 

“Why thank you~!” Crash chirped back at Flash, ceasing his drill’s spinning. 

Metal returned his focus back on Rock, though. “So Megaman… do my puns…” 

“METAL, I SWEAR!” Quick yelled at him. “IF YOU PUN ONE MORE TIME, I’M GONNA FIGHT YOU, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!” 

“...really _rock_ your socks off? Do they leave you… _winded?!”_ Metal said. 

“THAT’S IT!” Quick yelled, before pointing at Metal and walking closer to him. “WE’RE GONNA GO!” 

“YOU WANNA GO?!” Metal yelled amongst laughter, as he closed the distance between them. He stood on his toes and pressed his chest against Quick’s, trying and failing to be bigger than him. “LET’S GO!” 

“LET’S GO!” 

“LET’S GO!” 

“LET’S GO!” 

“LET’S--” 

“Oh my god, please don’t fight inside the house! We are NOT gonna go!” Rock interjected, wedging himself in between the two Robot Masters and holding his arms out. The two Wilybots felt a cool breeze on the both of them, and turned their heads to see Tornado holding up one of his arms, propeller out and spinning slowly. “Thank you, Tornado. Why do you two want to fight so badly anyways?!” 

“Look, we’ve all been pent up in our home for an entire week and the city’s too locked up and trashed for us to do anything there. You could say it’s a kind of stress relief of sorts,” Metal explained. Well… it wasn’t his favorite type of stress relief, THAT involves himself and Crash and a lot of privacy, but this would do for now, he thought. 

“And not to mention we just wanna better ourselves anyways. Get stronger, get faster, ya know.” Quick added. “So, I actually wanted to ask ya if you knew any places that aren’t trashed that would be a good spot to train.” 

Megaman put his arms down and brought a hand to his chin. He silently contemplated as a list of spots he could say were decent enough quickly formed within his mind. But just as quickly as it formed, it began to diminish as most of the areas he thought of meant going into the city… “Hmm…” And they probably meant a nearby place, too. That just made this all the harder. 

“If I may offer a suggestion,” Dr. Light suddenly spoke up to everyone in the room, “as you all know, this house sits on a foothill right in the beginning of a lovely mountain range. And I presume that the path you four take to get here involves driving around the side of a smaller, flatter mountain. I can only imagine that because of the hurricane that Tornado Man intercepted, its summit should most likely be devoid of any people. Well, even moreso than it normally is. Depending on its condition, it could be ideal for you four.” 

The Wilybots looked at each other. “You know,” Metal began, “I feel a little stupid now. It’s never once crossed my mind to actually scale the mountain next to us and see what’s there.” 

“It’s okay. We still have a lot of places to explore, don’t we?” Flash said. “If the summit is flat enough and there’s nobody around, I think it’s a good spot. What about you?” 

“It’s got long, winding roads, so I’m good.” Quick said. Crash simply shrugged his shoulders. 

“I think it’s good enough!” 

“Thanks for the suggestion! Come on, boys!” Quick thanked the doctor as he began to make his way towards the front door. 

“Wait!” Roll called out. Quick turned around, and Roll looked at everyone. “I think Dr. Light and Rock should go with you, too!” 

Rock faced his sister with a look of surprise. “Why do we need to go to? I don’t need training of any kind…” 

“Yeah, but have you and Dr. Light looked at yourselves in the mirror lately?” Roll replied. Rock tilted his head in confusion. Light blinked at her. “You’ve been working on that special project of yours nonstop for a whole week. No conferences, no interviews, not even any kind of walk outside. I say you both need some fresh air!” 

“I understand you mean well, Roll,” Dr. Light objected gently, “But I’m not very certain if I can afford to spend any less time on the projects I’ve been working on. I’ve been making so much progress lately…” 

“But that’s exactly it, Doctor Light!” Roll objected back. “You’ve been so hard at work, you’ve never given yourself a break! You’ve got to take a break from thinking about work so much! You’ve made enough progress to warrant yourself some time outside of the lab!” 

“Well, I can’t exactly disagree on that. You haven’t given yourself a break in a few days.” Rock agreed, before looking at the Wilybots. “I-it wouldn’t be too much of a burden if we tagged along as well, right?” 

Quick and Metal were about to open their mouths to object, but Flash cut in first. “Yeah, it’d be fine.” He shot Quick a quick look and winked, before turning back to the Blue Bomber. “Just try not to show off, will ya?” 

Rock nodded. “O-of course!” He turned to the doctor. “Dr. Light, what do you say?” 

“Well…” Light began, looking between his children. He paused, before eventually speaking up. “Tornado Man, do you think you could watch over the house and lab until we return? Roll, you too?” 

Tornado and Roll both nodded in unison. “Of course we can, Dr. Light! Just leave it to us! Right?” Roll chirped and saluted, before looking at the weather robot. 

“...Y-yeah.” Tornado said quietly. 

Crash looked between all the robots and grinned. “So it’s settled then? Sweet! Road trip!” He chirped gleefully.

~~~~~

The warehouse that the Wilybots had chosen to make into their new residence were surrounded by only a few scarce, but large presences. An enormous highway overpass that towered over their warehouse like it was nothing, almost as if it were the height of the mountain itself. A sea of red, brown, and orange created the rather tall deciduous forest that completely surrounded and swallowed the warehouse, obscuring it from the view of many different angles. And not too far from their little home, a small, round mountain that sat comfortably in the distance, never holding an ominous air about it, but rather a comforting, homey air, like a warm and old memory.

The drive to the ‘summit’ of the mountain, or rather, as far high as they could go with their car, was short and sweet. But it didn’t stop Megaman from feeling any less comfortable the entire time. Dr. Light drove the Wilybots’ car, Flash sat in the shotgun seat, and Megaman himself was crammed in the middle between Metal and Crash, and Quick layed atop of all of their laps, going out of his way the entire road trip to make Megaman feel even more uncomfortable. 

As the scientist and the robots filed out of the car, Dr. Light inhaled the wet and crisp forest air that filled his nostrils. He took in the sights before him; At this height of the mountain, they stood over the sea of reddening and shedding trees. The skies above them were clear as day, but they could see from here the very starting point of the mass of cloud that Tornado had cut up earlier, hovering directly above the city in the distance. Only a few stray wispy clouds floated above the mountain, whisking themselves away as fast as they arrive. The ‘summit’ they stood on wasn’t actually the very peak of the mountain, but a rather high point still. It was flat enough, and apparently, some humans had tried to make a campfire here before as there were logs and an abandoned, failed attempt at a fire in the center of it all. Everything was damp from the rain, but nothing was soaked nor destroyed. The Wilybots’ home was completely obscured from this viewpoint and elevation. 

He turned to find Quick stretching his legs and arms, before turning his way and grinning. “Doc, you ready for this?” 

“M-me? Am I going to run…?” Light joked, smiling at the scarlet Robot Master. Quick smiled and shook his head. 

“Nah, not at all. Still need your help though.” 

“Oh, how so?”

~~~~~

Flash held his buster high into the air, waiting for the signal. He looked up at Doctor Light, who was still preparing everything. He had brought a duffel bag with him, full of repair kits, tools, and many, many E-Tanks. He made sure of that last part after he heard Flash mention he wants to practice with his Time Stopper. Flash had doublechecked earlier that he had enough water bottles for this in the car, as well.

Quick placed his hands against the wet blacktop, getting into position to break into a run on signal. He carefully watched Flash from afar, who looked ant-sized from where he was. Quick crouched on the road they drove on to get there, hundreds of feet below the summit. Next to Doctor Light and Flash was a thick line they had laid down to use as their ‘finish line.’ Light finally took out his clipboard and a clear page of his notes, as well as a stopwatch. He nodded at Flash. The temporal robot nodded before counting to three in his head. On three, his body lights flared up extremely bright. 

Quick took his partner’s lighting up as the cue to run, and he rocketed off down the emptied, winding mountainside road. To feel the winds push (not too violently) against his body… he felt so liberated and free, so content. His legs moved unbelievably fast as he ripped through the air and tore down the road, tightly hugging every curve. His sights remained crisp and clear despite his speed and the speedy robot finally felt like it was safe to run even faster now. Which he did. He grinned and pushed himself harder on the final stretch, before zooming over the finish line and almost flying over it. He jammed his feet into the ground to halt his velocity and almost slammed face-first into the nearby thicket of trees. 

Flash had watched Quick the entire time and carefully calculated and recorded his running time within his CPU. After tallying the total milliseconds… “Quick,” he called over. It took a few more seconds longer than usual, but soon enough Quick was at his side. 

“Phew… didja get the times down, Flashy?” Quick panted. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on getting cool air into his vents and letting his fans cool his body. He did push himself towards the end, but he made sure it wasn’t too much. Overheating is no joke, and he wasn’t going to risk it, not even in this cool, damp weather. 

“I did, I did. I got your time down as 1:52:33 minutes. I think that was pretty good! You did it in less than 2 minutes! That’s great~” Flash chimed supportively, flashing Quick a warm smile. 

“Awhaha, nice~! Thanks, sweetheart~” Quick said breathily and grinned, feeling a little satisfied with his time. But… “I wonder if I can shave a minute offa that… “ He murmured to himself, before speaking up. “Doc, what’s your time?” 

Doctor Light finished writing down Flash’s time before looking down at his stopwatch. “I got 1 minute and 52 seconds. Looks like our times were accurate as well.” 

“Well, of course they are. Time is my domain, after all,” Flash said confidently. He looked at Quick. “How are you feeling? You feel ready for another round?” 

“I’m good, and you bet I am~,” Quick cooed, bouncing lightly on his feet and smirking widely. Even if his run was an uphill ascent on a mountain, he still felt so exhilarated and free when he ran. Just thinking about it was already putting a wide smile on his face. 

“Alright, dear, whenever you’re ready again--” And just like that, Quick bolted down the mountainside, back to where their ‘starting line’ was. 

Quick ran up and down the mountain a good ten more times. His recorded times varied each time, but he could feel his body begin to grow more used to running faster than what speeds he normally used to allow himself to run at. He felt like he wasn’t able to give the proper amount of ‘thank you’s that he wanted to express to Dr. Light for replacing his old eyes. He felt unrestrained now, he felt fast and free, he felt strong in a way, and he loved every second of it. But he knew he could go even faster than this. He was never built with a top speed in mind. He could run however damn fast he wanted to! 

He crossed the finish line again and almost tripped over his own feet, but caught himself at the end. He leaned over and panted harshly. He could feel his body flaring with heat, and he shakily sat down on a nearby log. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. The heat was heavy and thick inside his body and his legs trembled. He could feel his inner fans whirring hard. Flash took a seat next to him. 

“Hey, are you doing alright…?” Flash murmured to him, before resting his hand on top of Quick’s. But he quickly pulled his hand away. “Oh, that’s hot. You need a break.” Quick leaned himself back a little bit, breathing slowly through his nostrils and mouth. 

“Yeah, I know. I feel way too hot right now.” He murmured quietly. His burning hand idly reached over and felt around for Flash’s, and Flash complied, placing his hand over his Quick’s, despite the hotness. 

The temporal robot’s mouth curved up into a warm, gentle smile though. “You did amazing today. Your most recent time was 1:29:78, by the way. I’m really proud of you. You did so good.” He said softly and supportively. 

Quick relaxed and smiled gently. “Hah… yeah… that’s definitely a lot better. I was trying to go for under a minute, actually. Maybe if I just run a little faster at the start…” He mused. 

“You can try for that next time we do this. You’ve already made so much progress. I’m still really proud of you.” 

Quick’s smile grew. “Heh… Thanks, Flashy.” He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Seriously, though. Thank you for helping me with this. You and the Doc both. It means a lot to me.” He opened his eyes slowly and looked at his partner, before shifting his cooling hand and placing it on top of Flash’s, rubbing his thumb slowly against it. Flash simply shifted his hand and interlaced his fingers with Quick’s. 

“It’s no problem, Quick. You know I’d do anything for you,” Flash murmured softly, before smiling back at Quick. Said scarlet robot caught sight of how gentle and comfortable and happy Flash looked, and his core fluttered. 

“I know,” He murmured quietly, before shuffling closer to Flash and leaning his head against him. “That still means so, so much to me.” He then leaned over and planted a little kiss on Flash’s cheek, and smiled widely as said cheeks became reddened. 

“Mmm…” Flash hummed happily, planting his own little kiss on Quick’s cheek. He leaned against Quick and relaxed. Quick leaned against his partner, too, and nuzzled his head against his. The two relaxed together, holding hands, for about half an hour before Flash fluttered his eyes open and spoke again, quietly. “Hmm. Hey Quick…?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Could I try an experiment?” 

“Yeah, sure. What kinda experiment?” 

“Time Stopper.” 

Quick opened his eyes slowly and looked at Flash. He could almost tell what he thinking of exactly from the look on his face. “...You wanna see if you can use it without it affecting me, right?” 

Flash sat up and straightened himself, before nodding. “I don’t want to hurt you, Quick. I have to figure out a way to use my weapon without doing that.” 

“Well, I mean, it doesn’t actually hurt me. It just saps my energy like hell. Makes me exhausted way too fast.” 

“Still… I don’t understand why it does that to you. Dr. Light and Megaman couldn’t figure it out, either. I at least want to figure out if it can be avoided, though. It makes me feel awful whenever I used the Time Stopper.” 

Quick lightly squeezed Flash’s hand. “Well hey. We already figured out one thing about it. It only drains me more the longer you have it charged, right? And also that even when it’s fully charged, it doesn’t kill me in one shot, either. Well, I learned that when I fought Megaman. Make that two things.” 

“I guess you’re right. But there has to be more to it. I feel like we’re missing something important.” 

Quick looked out to the pretty view that only being at their altitude could provide. He gazed at the mountain roads. He stared at the starting line he ran at before, and suddenly, an idea crossed his mind. “What about distance?” He turned back to Flash, who looked at him with questioning eyes. “Haven’t you used the Time Stopper when I wasn’t nearby in the Castle? What if… say… it only does that to me when I’m near you?” 

Flash processed this for a few moments, before his eyes widened huge. “Oh my gosh.” He suddenly sprung onto his feet. “Oh my god! Quick, that could be it! Can we test this right now?! I swear, you don’t have to move an inch!” 

“Yeah, of course we can. Test it, I mean. Yeah, no, I’m gonna stay right here.” Quck said. He chortled as Flash grinned widely and immediately whirled around and bolted towards the sickly doctor. 

“Doctor Light!” 

… 

… 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the camp site, the sounds of Metal Blades sliding off of metallic fingers and screeching through the air broke the silence on that end. They wedged themselves cleanly into tree trunks and even boulders. Crash smiled widely at Metal’s progress, or rather, his perfection. He was almost a little envious of how efficiently and skilled he threw his Metal Blades. He wish he could do that with his Crash Bombers. Metal Man simply outclassed both his own and Megaman’s aiming and throwing ability in every way possible. 

Crash looked at their work. He marked every single object and area with his drills he picked out to make into ‘targets’. And flawlessly wedged into the dead center of each target was Metal’s Metal Blades. 

“Wow. I’m still just… wow, Metal. You’re so good at throwing! Just look at that!” Crash beamed. However, Metal looked irritated. The cutter robot sighed to himself. 

“Thank you, Crash. I’d say I’ve got a pretty decent throwing arm, at least,” He said quietly, before raising his voice. “But if that’s the case, why the hell did I lose to you, Megaman?!” He pointed at the Blue Bomber, who threw his own Metal Blade. It wasn’t even nearly close to the target. 

Megaman looked back at him, before his palette swapped back to its default shades of blue. “Well,” He began. How was he going to word this without it sounding TOO insulting to Metal Man? He paused and thought carefully, before speaking up. “I don’t think either of us knew that you were weak to your weapon at the time. Maybe I just caught you off guard?” 

“Yeah! And we all were exhausted that day and only partially-repaired, too…” Crash began happily, but then narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice at that last part. He sighed. The more he thought about his life back at the Wily Castle, the more he’s come to realize how awful his life and his creator actually were… 

Metal calmed himself down and blinked a few times. His hands twitched. “You’re both right. But still… I’d ask for a rematch with our ‘Blades, but I don’t want to risk getting myself killed.” He sighed in agitation. “It isn’t fair. I don’t get why I was built this way. It makes me feel weak…” 

“You’re not weak at all, trust me.” Crash said. “You’re strong, both in battle, and in… uh…” He shuffled up to Metal and tapped his chest lightly with his drill. “There, too! You’re not only strong, but you have a REALLY strong weapon, too. That’s just probably it!” 

Metal smiled gently at the drillbot as his hand grabbed the drill and softly held it. His fingers traced the grooves of the drill. “Thank you, Crash. I’d say you’re pretty strong, too, with those bombs and drills of yours… and pretty resilient and sturdy, too.” 

Crash looked down and blushed faintly. “Oh… I-I’m not that strong, or g-great, really.” He looked up at the drill that Metal held in his hand and his expression saddened. “I-I can’t really do a whole lot. Not even with fighting. What, I fire a Crash Bomber… and then I jump and fire a Crash Bomber? T-that’s all I really know how to do…” He muttered to himself, smiling bitterly. 

“That’s bullshit.” Metal said, reaching down for Crash’s other drill. He held them both together in his hands. He swallowed down his own frustrations for now. “Look… I mean… All I know how to do in battle is jump and throw Metal Blades. But you heard what Quick said before. We can grow and learn more, too. He said it’ll help us get better and feel better about ourselves, too. We can grow stronger together.” He offered a small smile to the orange Robot Master. 

Crash’s eyes met Metal’s, and he processed what he said. He remained quiet, looking down at Metal’s hands, who held his drills without hesitation. As if they were actual, real hands. He felt touched, but only emotionally. He wanted to feel Metal’s hands with his own and feel his touch, but he knew he couldn’t if he had drills for hands. He smiled widely up at the burgundy Robot Master. “...You’re right. You’re totally right. We can grow strong together. W-we can do anything, right?” 

“You’re damn right, Crash~ Whatever our cores desire.” Metal cooed, smiling widely. Crash grinned. 

“Y-yeah! You’re right! We can do it!” But then Crash’s grin faltered and his expression died. “...Wait. How are we going to get stronger if we’re both already good at using our weapons?” 

Metal’s own smile died as well, before it returned. “We… could always learn something new?” 

“I don’t mean to interrupt, but I’ve got an idea,” Megaman interrupted. Metal let go of Crash’s drills and they both looked at the Blue Bomber. “You both have weapons you either throw or shoot. Those are long-range weapons. Have you two ever really tried working on your close-range combat?” 

Metal and Crash looked at each other. “Well, we have fought a few times before with our fists… and er, drills.” 

“How’d that go?” 

“I punched him in the face?” Metal offered. 

“And I drilled him!” Crash added. 

Megaman gave Crash and Metal a look. Metal’s eyes narrowed at first, and then widened, as his face began to turn red. 

“HE MEANS IN THE FACE. HE HIT ME IN THE FACE WITH HIS DRILL--” 

Megaman couldn’t help but smile a little. “I understand, no worries. Well, I’m not really the best at close range combat either, but I’ve been in a few fighting tournaments that taught me a thing or two, so if you want, I could teach you some basics.” He turned to Metal. “How do you throw your punches?” 

“My punches? Uh…” Metal shuffled away from Crash and Megaman a little awkwardly. “Don’t you just…” Metal then tried his best to throw a mock punch, thrusting his fist through the air. “...do something like this?” He glanced at Megaman, hoping for reassurance of any sort, but instead Megaman shook his head at him. Metal felt minor chagrin subtly creep throughout his circuits. 

“No, no. That was slow and sloppy. Here, this is what I was taught…”

~~~~~

Flash could not have looked any happier than he did right then. Doctor Light had helped him with his experiment by connecting a device to Quick that measured his energy levels, and then Flash tested the Time Stopper at various distances. He also didn’t forget to bring the E-Tanks and water bottles over by Quick so that no one would pass out or lose their voice. At first, they tested the Time Stopper within a 5 foot radius of Quick, and said speedy robot almost fainted immediately. Then, with a 10 foot radius, and they almost had the same result. However, upon 15 feet, Doctor Light immediately noticed Quick’s energy levels decreasing much less. At 20 feet, even lesser. Eventually, after many water and E-tank breaks, they stopped at 50 feet, when the Time Stopper didn’t drain a single bit of energy out of Quick Man. And since then, Flash Man has never left Quick’s side, gushing happily over his Time Stopper actually not being able to drain him.

Quick chuckled and put an arm around the temporal robot who clung to his side. He himself couldn’t help but feel quite relieved and happy too that his weakness could actually be deterred. “Hey, Flashy. Since we finished our training and experiment early, why don’t we check on Metal and Crash, see how they’re holdin’ up?” Flash simply just hummed in approval and nodded. 

Quick was rather surprised and amused at what he found. Metal and Crash were engaged in a friendly fistfight with each other, throwing punches, kicks, headbutts, drill attacks, whatever they could use to their advantage. And Megaman of all robots was coaching Crash on his fighting, calling out whenever his form was off or when there was an opening. Metal seemed to be doing fine on his own. Megaman quickly learned that Metal was a fast learner at whatever he picked up. He also learned that Metal prefers to rely on his hands much more than his feet to fight. Crash needed more time learning than his partner did. 

Metal blocked a kick of Crash’s and then a ducked under a thrusted drill. Metal was holding back from throwing his punches so that he could better look for an opening. He sidestepped away from his drills and threw a right hook towards the drillbot. Crash grinned, and without even needing Megaman to tell him this time, he held up both drills to block the incoming punch. “Ha!” He spun the drills and pushed back, throwing the cutter robot off-balance. Crash then did the first thing he thought of and went for a headbutt. His head collided with Metal’s and he sent him reeling back, dazed. By now, Quick and Flash were excitedly watching the battle unfold between the two partners. Crash went in for the KO by swinging his drill to smash into Metal, but… 

The cutter robot smirked and dodged the drill to the side, having already moved in for another shot at a right hook, and this time, it connected with Crash’s face. It hit with enough force to knock Crash onto his back. Metal blinked and stared at his own fist for a second wide-eyed before going to Crash’s side and squatting down. 

“Was that too much?” He asked, concerned. 

Crash looked up at him with wide eyes. “No, I’m fine! But that was just really unexpected! And really cool!” He grinned. Metal’s mouth curved up into a wide smile. 

“R-really? You think so--” 

“HOLY SHIT!” And instantly, Quick was at their sides, Flash following up and reaching for Crash’s drill to pull him back to his feet. Quick’s full attention was on Metal. “Holy shit! Metal, you knocked him down! You knocked CRASH down! Flat on his ass!” 

Metal tilted his head and gave him a confused look. “Y-yeah? And?” 

“Dude! Metal. I couldn’t even knock Crash down when we trained in the Castle. Whatever he’s made of is STURDY shit. Just look!” And almost as if on cue, the now-standing Crash held his arms out, ready to receive Quick Man’s punch. And that punch collided with his face quickly. But Crash didn’t budge an inch. In fact, he snickered. “My punches do nothing!” 

“That tickled,” Crash said, smirking. 

“Do… did you guys just punch each other for fun back in the Castle…?” Metal asked, giving Quick a weird look. 

Quick shook his head no. “No no. You remember who you were assigned to train with back then when Wily wanted our asses to train for days on end?” 

“Yeah, I remember those. I was with Air and Heat.” Metal shuddered, remembering the long and grueling fight sessions.

“Well, Flashy and Crashy were my sparring partners then. Crash and I have already beaten the scrap outta each other.” Quick explained. “You need to have some serious strength if you can knock Crash off of his feet.” 

Metal looked down at his hands again. “I… I mean, I-I-I don’t really know what I did, though. I just went in for a punch and he flew easily… ” 

Quick suddenly looked determined. “Metal.” He grinned widely. “Metal, punch me in the face.” 

“W-What?! No! I’m not punching you!” Metal yelped. 

“DO IT, METAL! PUNCH ME!” Quick yelled at him. 

“NO!” Metal objected.

“COME ON, LET’S GO!” 

“YOU WANNA GO?” 

“YEAH! WE’RE GONNA GO RIGHT NOW!” 

“RIGHT NOW?!” 

“RIGHT NOW! LET’S GO!” 

“OKAY, YOU ASKED FOR IT!” Metal yelled, before remembering his form that Megaman taught him. He focused and pulled his right arm back, before taking a step forward and smashing his fist into Quick’s face, hitting him as hard as he could. And to his shock, Quick Man went flying a few feet from the impact of his punch. Metal stared with wide eyes, speechless. Flash and Crash stared with even bigger eyes. 

Flash shook his head and called out. “Q-Quick? Are you okay?” 

After almost half a minute, Quick suddenly recovered and sprung back onto his feet. He ran back to them, holding a red hand against his cheek where he was hit. He was starry-eyed. “I’m good! Metal, you hit like a TRUCK! How did you not know this?!” 

“I-I don’t know! I-I never really thought of punching someone instead of using my Metal Blades?! I-I never thought I was built with this kind of strength?” 

“Oh! Oh! Metal! Metal Metal Metal!!” Crash practically jumped in place excitedly. “YOU KNOW WHO YOU SHOULD HIT NEXT?!” He yelled, with the biggest sharktooth grin plastered on his face. 

“Who?!” 

“YOU SHOULD HIT MEGAMAN.” 

Metal suddenly gasped excitedly and sported the biggest possible grin he has ever mustered. Megaman’s eyes widened huge. He tried to take a step back but it was already too late, Metal had already moved into action. “Nononono--” 

BAM!! 

Megaman went flying through the air from the impact of Metal’s fist upon his face. Metal’s grin intensified and he practically vibrated in place out of excitement. “YYYEAAAAHHH!!” Metal roared, clenching his fist. “THIS IS AMAZING!” He shouted. “Oh my god, CRASH!” He faced his partner, who looked up at him with starry eyes. “You have no idea how GOOD that felt! Thank you, Quick! This was an amazing idea!” 

Quick grinned widely at Metal and gave him a thumbs up. And now Flash deeply regretted that he had not brought his camera with him.

~~~~~

The sun was setting… Dusk reigned over the night sky.

The dark stormy clouds of the swirling, violent stormy mass that hovered over Monstropolis never once made their way over to the summit of the mountain. All that remained of any cloud was now just a stringy, barely lit wisp in the night sky. From the view of the summit, the stars showed themselves proudly, twinkling brightly in the sky. With the help of a very quick robot, the campfire had been lit, casting a warm orange glow upon everything. Dr. Light sat on a log, heating up a soup that Roll had prepared for all of them in a pot over the fire, while also texting on his cell phone that he had finally retrieved back from Metal and Crash. 

The Wilybots all sat against one of the large logs that surrounded the fire. Crash stared up at the sky, narrowing and squinting his eyes and trying to focus in on one of the constellations that twinkled faintly. Quick gazed up at the stars with Crash, taking in all the twinkling lights. They warmly reminded him of his wonderful partner, whom he had wrapped an arm around and pulled close to himself. Flash rested against Quick, eyes closed, reflecting over everything that happened today. Metal was still giddy, hours later, over the fact that he got to punch Megaman in the face and not only did he do that, but he sent him _flying._

Megaman took a seat on the log adjacent to the one that all the Wilybots leaned against. His face still stung… He never would’ve expected Metal Man of all robots to have such a strong punch. He looked at the four, as a question came to mind. “Hey Quick Man,” he called out quietly. 

Quick never took his eyes off of the stars. “What’s up?” He answered quietly. 

“If it’s okay to ask, how come you felt the need to train today?” 

“It’s simple. I wasn’t happy where my speed was after I fought you. That, and I also figured that my family would be happy after getting some normal, decent training in, too. And it would give us some fresh air after the hell that was being kept indoors for a whole week.” 

“Normal…?” 

Quick paused. “Yeah, uh… Dr. Wily’s not a very ethical coach, let’s just say. He’s a bit extreme.” He said quietly. 

“You don’t say…” Megaman droned sarcastically.

“Pssh. Yeah, you probably know that already. But could you imagine living with the guy?” 

Megaman thought about it for precisely a few seconds before he shuddered harshly and made a noise of revulsion. 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.” Quick sneered. 

“You sound like you really don’t like him…” Megaman murmured.

“Are you kidding? I’ve never liked him. He’s old and hideous and nasty, and I NEVER want to be anything remotely like him.” Quick spat, hatred lacing his tone. Megaman stared at him with surprised, wide eyes. Metal’s audio receptors twitched curiously, but he said nothing. 

The Blue Bomber hesitated for a moment. The air he felt from Quick Man when he spoke of Wily sent chills through his circuits. He then spoke slowly and carefully. “I… If it’s okay to ask, why don’t you like Dr. Wily? He’s your creator…” 

Quick finally broke his gaze away from the stars and looked at Megaman with an eerily calm composure. “It’s okay to ask, but do you really want to know why? Are you prepared to hear the answer?” 

Megaman hesitated again, shifting uncomfortably. Flash opened his eyes slowly and looked up at the speedy robot. “Quick, you don’t have to tell him if you don’t want to…” He murmured, a worried expression beginning to form on his face. 

Quick’s mouth contorted before he spoke up. “I know. But I think I actually want to now. So Megaman, you wanna know or not?” 

“U-uhh… sure.” 

“Good. Because I was going to tell it regardless. I promised Crash last week I’d tell him this too and I’ve stalled too long on it. Hey Crashy-- hey-- Crash!” Crash snapped out of his trance and looked at Quick. “It’s storytime. We’re gonna kill two birds with one stone tonight. You get to hear how Flashy and I got so close to each other,” and then he faced Megaman, “and you get to hear why I don’t like Wily.” 

“Really?!” Crash asked, his face brightening up but Quick held a finger to him. 

“But I’m warning you right now, Crashy. This story doesn’t start out too happy. If you start crying, just remember that I warned ya.” 

Crash calmed down and nodded in understanding. He turned and faced Quick. Metal also had his full attention on Quick as well, incredibly curious to hear what kind of story he was about to tell. Megaman couldn’t fight away a bad feeling that was beginning to form in his robotic gut. A part of him was beginning to regret his questioning, but another part was genuinely curious… 

Quick shot a quick glance around at everyone silently, before shakily inhaling and slowly exhaling. “Flash… hold me.” He muttered very softly. Immediately, Flash had wrapped his arms around Quick. One of the scarlet robot’s hands gripped Flash’s arm. He took another deep breath. “...Okay.” 

He took another deep breath. 

“It was five years ago. January 19th. …Flash, uh… what time was it?” 

“If I remember correctly, wasn’t it around… 2:30-something for you?” 

“Yeah, that’s it. 2:30-something AM. Middle of the night, basically. At our Wily Castle. I had done some scouting around my station and checked the perimeters of the castle blah blah yadda yadda Dr. Wily told me to do it because I was the fastest. Well, uh… apparently he had forgotten he gave me that order, because when I, uh, came into the lab to give my report to him… well… It was definitely a surprise to us both to see each other.” 

“...What do you mean by that?” Metal asked cautiously. 

Quick looked at Metal. “When I found Dr. Wily, he was crying. He was crying and he was drunk. Still held the bottle in his hand and everything. It was the heavy Russian shit. Must’ve been a bad night or something, I don’t know. Anyways, I’m getting carried away. I call out for him, and he says…”

~~~~~

~~~~~

_“Where the fuck have you been this whole time?” The mad scientist spat out drunkenly at Quick._

_“‘Been doin’ what you asked me. I’m just here to give you my report. Doc… W-Why are you crying? ‘Everything okay…?” Quick asked hesitantly. He couldn’t help but feel a bad feeling begin to fester and culminate within in his robotic gut._

_Dr. Wily paused, and turned to face Quick. His eyes squinted for a moment, and he hiccuped, before his eyes widened. He bared his teeth in a sickly snarl as he stumbled over to Quick. Quick took a step back. “You… you ask me if everything’s okay… after all of the shit you’ve pulled? You actually bothered to come back? … … …Am I okay. ” His movements were slow in moment, and then in the next, quicker than Quick could react as he slapped down the report out of Quick’s hands. “AM I OKAY?!” He screamed at Quick, who flinched hard. Flecks of spit and alcohol hit the robot’s face, but Quick didn’t move a robotic joint._

_Quick stared at Dr. Wily with huge eyes. He… he didn’t understand… Did he do something wrong…?_

_The angry doctor turned around for a second, deep in thought. Quick stood there, hesitant and too shocked to react in time again when Wily suddenly whirled around and smashed the bottle of heavy alcohol over his head. “DO YOU THINK I’M OKAY?!” He roared angrily at him, his face inches from Quick’s. Quick froze, as heavy alcohol dripped down his body and pieces of glass fell to the ground. Wily bared his teeth, his moustache raising and touching his reddened cheeks, before calming down and sniffling, as more tears streamed out of his eyes. “Why?” He suddenly asked._

_Quick was speechless. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to do._

_“Why…?!” He asked again._

~~~~~

~~~~~

“I should’ve ran. I should’ve just ran away the moment I realized he wasn’t talking to me.” Quick said. His core and body felt ice cold and he trembled in Flash’s hold.

“H-h-he wasn’t talking to you…?” Crash stuttered nervously. Quick shook his head no. 

“At the point, I was no longer Quick Man in his eyes. Because after that, he started calling me Blues.” 

The sound of loud clattering very abruptly cut through the silence. Metal and Rock turned their heads to find Dr. Light had dropped the pot full of simmering soup. There was a petrified look on the man’s face. His hands were shaking hard. “Doctor, are you alright over there?” Metal called out. Rock stood up and walked over to check on him. 

“Doctor Light…? Are you okay?” Rock asked worriedly. He grabbed Light’s hands and checked them for burns. 

Light held up a shaking hand. “I-I am alright. Please, continue.” Rock took a seat next to Dr. Light and he patted his back softly. 

Quick took another shaky breath. “He started asking me questions I didn’t have answers to. He started telling me things I didn’t understand. Mind you, I still don’t know who the fuck Blues is even now. … … …Er, anyways. He started saying things like… ‘I gave you everything. We created you, we raised you, we were a happy family together… Why did you leave us?’” Quick paused, and brought his knees to his chest and he grabbed at Flash’s arm with one hand whilst his other held and squeezed his hand. He looked down. “‘Dr. Light wasn’t the only one whose heart you broke.’” He lowered his head. “‘If you had just been a good boy and listened to us, none of this would’ve ever had to happen.’” Quick paused and exhaled shakily. His voice was wavering. “‘You never cared about us, did you? You selfish, spoiled brat. You only care about yourself.’” Another pause. “‘I never should have built you.’” 

Crash was silent and he stared worriedly at Quick. Metal was frozen, petrified in place out of horror of what he was hearing. Megaman was pale-faced. Flash only hugged Quick tighter and squeezed his hand back. 

“I tried to tell him that I didn’t know what he was talking about. I said ‘Doc, please, listen to me. I’m not Blues’, but…”

~~~~~

~~~~~

_Dr. Wily stared at Quick. “No, you’re not Blues! Of course, you’re not! That’s because you think you’re like a human. You think you can do whatever you want, regardless of the consequences. You think that you can make your own decisions. And you think that leaving your parents is okay, that choosing to run away is okay. After everything we taught you, too…” He walked up to the trembling Quick and sneered at him. “You belong to me. You always will. Remember that alongside Thomas, I was the one who gave you life.” His face turned disgusting and menacing._

_Run, Quick’s CPU shouted at him. Run. Escape. Go to safety. Defend yourself._

_Run. Run. RUN._

_“And I can just as easily end it.”_

_RUN._

_Dr. Wily lifted his hand up suddenly, and Quick bolted as fast as he could towards the exit--_

_“DON’T MOVE.”_

_Quick’s body froze. Oh no. No no no no no. He tried to budge or move, but his body refused. A message programmed to pop up within his CPU appeared seconds later, alerting him of the order he had just been given. Oh god no. Please. He wanted to run. He wanted to escape. This is not happening right now. This is a dream, right?_

_No, that can’t be right. Robots can’t dream._

_“That’s an order. You are not to move at all until I say it is okay to do so again. Understood?”_

_Quick’s programming answered for him. “Yes, Doctor Wily.”_

_Wily’s mouth curled upwards into a sickly smile. “That’s a good boy.” He circled around him. Quick’s core raced, his circuits raced, all out of sheer fear of this man who had absolute control over him. Wily’s expression died, before his face suddenly flared with sheer rage as he pushed the robot down to the ground. Quick slammed onto the floor and immediately tried to crawl away, but his body felt locked, and heavier than anything. He was immobile. He felt trapped inside his own body._

_Quick’s breathing began to speed up and become uneven and erratic. He trembled in place. Dr. Wily stood over him, before sitting down at his side. “You won’t escape me this time. I’m not letting you.” He leaned closer to him._

_The scarlet robot could feel tears brim at the corners of his optics. “Doc… D-Doctor…” He could barely manage to get the words out of his stiff mouth. “P-… p-p-pl… please… S-stop…”_

_“You’re never going to run away from me again.”_

_…_

~~~~~

~~~~~

Everyone around him was silent. The silent stillness was unnerving. Quick smiled bitterly.

“Do you wanna know what he did after that? Wanna know what he did next?” He asked quietly. Only absolute silence answered him. Flash leaned his face into Quick’s armor and murmured something barely audible against it. Quick relaxed at his words for only a few seconds. He squeezed at his hand repeatedly and he trembled. 

“What did he do…?” Metal eventually murmured quietly at him. 

Quick’s bitter smile grew wider and he looked down. He began to quietly laugh, but it was nothing of the usual laugh he sported, which was bursting with energy and a carefree attitude and security. This laugh was devoid of any of that. “He… h-he… he took his wrench… I don’t even know when the hell he grabbed that thing… Whatever. He held it up real high above him… gleamed and everything under the dimmed lights. And… a-and…” 

Quick paused, staring at the ground. His other hand shakily took itself off of Flash’s forearm and balled itself into a fist in the air… before Quick slowly brought it down upon nothing in particular. He lifted it again and brought it down slowly, weakly, again. He repeated the motion over and over. “H-he… he… h-h-he…” Quick took a moment to breathe again. He squeezed Flash’s hand again and Flash squeezed it back tightly. “... ...h-he b-bashed my knees in. Completely f-fucked them up. …H-he broke my legs…” 

His arm slowly ceased moving and it fell to the ground. He leaned against Flash, who adjusted himself to hold Quick better. “I-it hurt like a fuckin’ bitch, like n-nothing I’ve ever f-felt… b-but I couldn’t do anything about it… I was so t-terrified and c-crying and then the s-scariest part w-was when I stopped feeling a-a-anything-g-g-... g…” Unbeknownst to Quick, speaking was becoming harder for him… His knees began to tremble hard. And tears began to brim at the corners of his eyes. “Th… t-th-th… the--... o-oh god… I-I’m sorry, could you g-gimme a moment I g-guess I j-just gotta c-cry n-now…” The hot, stinging, welling tears in his eyes began to stream down his cheeks like an overflowing stream. 

The response was almost instant. At that point, Flash had nuzzled into Quick, planting gentle, tender, comforting kisses on his cheek and neck, as that was as far as he could reach from that angle. Crash barreled through the space between himself and Quick and threw himself into said scarlet Robot Master, hugging him as tightly as he could with drills for hands. Metal joined not even seconds later, trying to embrace Quick as hard as he could. Quick let himself be encompassed in the embraces of his partner and his brothers and the tears only then came down harder. He sniffled and grit his teeth, before letting himself cry quietly. “Quick…” Flash murred so sadly into his neck. “Quick…” He squeezed Quick’s hand again, and he received a squeeze back. Quick’s sobs were quiet and slightly restrained, but the tears streaming down his face did not cease their flow in the slightest bit. Soon, he felt another pair of smaller arms wrap around him from behind and he looked up to see Megaman hugging him as well. 

“A-aw j-jeez…” Quick cried, looking up at the Blue Bomber, and then shutting his eyes and weeping more. The four robots surrounding Quick hugged him tightly and warmly. It lasted for a few minutes, until Quick finally was able to breathe calmly again and sniffle away the last of his tears. Quick felt a pair of white and yellow hands wipe away at his tears gently, and he smiled softly. “T-thanks, F-Flash…” He focused on his breathing while leaning against his partner. “...That’s the worst part. It gets better from here, I s-swear. But after that, I don’t really remember what happens next. Flash?” 

Flash cleared his throat as Metal, Crash, and Rock crawled away from the two of them and back to their spots. He adjusted his position so that he was sitting behind Quick, so he could embrace and hold him better. His head rested on Quick’s shoulder as his arms wrapped around his chest. “Well… after Wily destroyed the joints in Quick’s knees… well… Quick’s cries were loud and my quarters were near the lab so I got curious and followed the sounds… And I saw Wily above him through the window to the lab… he was about to start bashing his head next. I never saw Quick look so frightened and hurt in my entire life. I really don’t know how I moved so fast right then, but the next thing I knew, I activated my Time Stopper and smashed through the window. I picked up Quick and I just… I just ran. I kept using the Time Stopper and I kept running. I ran right to the teleporters and right to my station and I locked every door behind me and I went into my room and threw Quick on the bed and just looked him up and down and I don’t remember if I threw up or not, but I think it was pretty close.” 

Quick closed his eyes. “I woke up in his room. I woke up to him panicking and asking me if I was okay and what happened and… heh, Flash, you were talking so fast, I could barely keep up…”

~~~~~

~~~~~

_…uick… … …. Qui… … Quick…_

_…Quick…!_

_Quick! Quick, Quick, please wake up, oh god, Quick please… please, please… no…_

_Quick’s eyes eventually opened to a world of blue. His optics focused and the world became crisp and clear. Above him, he saw…_

_“Flash…?” He whispered, before waves of nausea and dizziness washed over him. He felt sick to his robotic stomach. He knew he was lying down and he just woke up… but he felt unbelievably exhausted and drained…_

_“Oh god. Oh my god, Quick. Quick, you’re alive, oh god you’re alive, you’re awake, you’re okay-- well, not exactly, but you’re here… Thank god. Thank everything.” Flash ran his mouth a mile a minute. “Quick… What happened?”_

_Quick blinked, processing all of this. “F-Flash… I…--” And then suddenly, like powerful waves, the memories flooded out of his databanks. His skin paled and his core turned icy cold. The screaming… the freezing… the wrench… Quick’s upper half became limp. Darkness was trying to consume him again. He was about to let himself be surrounded by it when he suddenly felt something cool touch his lips._

_“Drink. P-please. Please don’t pass out on me, Quick…” Flash pleaded, worry and anxiety written all over his face. He held an E-Tank to Quick’s lips, and after a few seconds, Quick drank slowly. The scarlet Robot Master could feel his consciousness return to him. His eyes fluttered open again._

_“Flash… F-Flash… am I in your station…?” He asked drowsily._

_The temporal robot nodded and said, “Y-yeah, you’re in my room. You’ve been unconscious for four days. Quick… what happened that night? D-do you remember anything?”_

_“Four days…? Oh god… If I’m gone that long, then what’s--” And then like a second tidal wave, the memories washed over him. The pain… the tears… Blues… O-oh god. He was awake right now. These were memories. These actually happened. Quick’s eyes suddenly widened huge and he sat up, Flash leaning back. His upper half worked and felt just fine, but… b-but his lower half… his legs… he couldn’t feel his legs… He looked down at himself fearfully. The diamond-shaped guards that protected his knees were crumpled and dangling off of his legs. And what his ‘kneecaps’ would’ve been is now an unsightly mess of clumped, twisted, destroyed and crushed wires, dented and disfigured metallic joints, and damaged steel infrastructure. He tried to move his legs, but nothing happened. Quick’s eyes widened even more. “O-oh god, I remember everything… t-this is real… t-this is… t-this…”_

_“Q-Quick…” Flash murmured worriedly. He sat down on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on one of his legs. Quick couldn’t feel it. “Why was Dr. Wily… w-why was he…”_

_Quick stared at Flash’s hand on his leg and his core dropped into his gut as the gravity of his condition only worsened. Panic rushed through his core and body. He tried again to move his legs, to feel anything, but nothing happened. “I-I-I don’t know…! Flash… F-Flash, I can’t feel my legs… I-I can’t feel my legs! I can’t move them…!” Quick cried out before his face suddenly felt extremely hot. He didn’t know what was happening to him anymore, not until he felt the heat peak at his optics and well up in liquid form, streaming down his face. Flash’s eyes widened and he immediately sat closer to him and pulled him into a tight embrace. He felt Flash’s hands rub up and down his back and it was… soothing, and nice. Quick let himself collapse against Flash and just sob. He sobbed and wailed the hardest and loudest he has ever had in his entire life. His miserable and pained wails echoed throughout the station’s rooms that day. Flash held him so close and tight, murmuring his name in a low, sad voice._

_He cried for what felt like an eternity, before eventually calming down more. He relaxed in Flash’s arms finally and said temporal robot never let go of Quick. “Flash…” His voice had become a strained whisper from almost blowing out his voice whilst crying. “Please don’t tell the others about this.” He whispered to him. They didn’t need to see him like this._

_“I won’t.” Flash said. “I promise.”_

_Quick sniffled again. Eventually, Flash did let go of him and gently and slowly pushed Quick back against the bed again. His core ached painfully and he sniffled again. He felt more tears threatening to form and fall again. “I-I’m sorry…” He choked out. “Did… W-was it me? Did I do something w-wrong? D-do I deserve t--” He didn’t want to finish that sentence, and thankfully, Flash cut him off, shaking his head._

_“N-no! No, no, oh no, don’t you dare think that you ever deserve something like this. Nobody deserves anything like this. I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong. Dr. Wily was wrong. It was wrong of him to do this to you.” Flash reassured the speedy robot and slowly let go of Quick._

_Quick felt some relief from that. A tired, red hand lifted up and he wiped away at the tears brimming in his eyes again. Flash’s hand rested on his leg again and he gently rubbed it. He couldn’t feel it at all, but the gentle gesture made him relax a little more._

_Flash adjusted his position on the bed slightly and looked down at the damage that’s been done to him. He scrutinized the knees, before hesitantly lifting a hand and grazing his thumb around the metal that hadn’t been destroyed or damaged there. Quick couldn’t feel anything. “Quick…” Flash muttered, before he spoke up, clearly and with conviction in his tone, “Tomorrow morning, I’m going to get as many tools as I can find and I’m going to work on you. …I want to fix your legs.” His voice softened at that last part._

_Quick looked away from himself and his upper half shuddered lightly. “Flash, do you know how to repair robots?”_

_Flash smiled gently, as their eyes met. “I haven’t the slightest clue. But I’m still going to try anyways.”_

~~~~~

~~~~~

“That was the precise moment I knew that I didn’t deserve somebody as amazing as Flash, haha,” Quick quietly chuckled. Flash held him close and shook his head.

“Don’t say that. You deserve the world and more.” He said gently to him. He faced Metal and Crash. “The week that followed that… Well, do you two remember that one week that Quick went on that ‘week-long mission?’ I, uh, made that up. He was with me the whole time. I’m sorry that I lied to you, Crash. I know you missed him quite a lot.” 

“W-what-- oh, no no, don’t say sorry! I-It’s okay!” Crash stammered. “O-oh god, if I knew… I… I-I don’t know what I would’ve done…” 

“I remember that, yeah,” Metal breathed to himself, “God, if I had only known… I would’ve given you all the shit I had in my factory. I had so much to spare…” 

“Thank you both. Really.” Flash said. He felt Quick relax against him and he couldn’t help but form a small smile on his face. “That week was a just rollercoaster of emotions, honestly. Repairing him was a learning process we went through together. I took every tool I saw, every mirror, and we tried to work his legs whenever we could.” 

“And hey, we did it. But god, did it hurt. The moment I began to feel anything in my legs again, it was nothing but pain like you wouldn’t believe.” Quick said, looking away and trying not to grimace at the memories. But soon enough, a small smile formed on his face as well. “At least it was Flash fixing me, though. Sometimes, it was just too much, and…” His smile softened. “He’d grab my hand and hold it. He’d tell me comforting things, he’d get me anything I wanted… Sometimes, I’d feel like it was happening all over again and Flashy would just hold me and tell me that he’s there, that he’d protect me, and… God, he was just so kind and caring? He made me feel safe and happy. I guess I just wasn’t used to that feeling. The security, I mean. And what he did meant so, so much to me… I began to think about how I could repay him and, well… I-I actually still think about that today… ” 

“Quick, you don’t need to repay me. I wanted to repair you, and honestly, just spending time with you was a good enough reward for me.” 

“Awww… Flashy~,” Quick cooed, putting a hand to his blushing cheek before his smile widened. 

Flash smiled as well. He felt Quick’s hands rest on top of his own and gently smooth them. “Well, like I said, that week was a rollercoaster of emotions, but it was a good one. I’d say we got to know each other pretty well then. He was just so fun and nice to listen to… He had so many stories to tell me. And he’s funny, too. He made me laugh so much whenever I started to feel down. And the more I stayed with him, the harder I hoped that he’d talk to me after I completely repaired him.” 

“Flash, you honestly thought I wouldn’t talk to you after that?” He looked at Metal and Crash. “He was just… a real sweetheart. We would talk for hours when his work was done… He was honest and he’d complain all the time ‘bout the dumb shit that happened at the Castle or his station… He had all these little quirks I never knew about him and honestly? They’re cute. Flash is cute. …Heheh. One day, after he finished working on me for the day, he asked me how I felt and I just… pulled him closer to me and kissed him. I guess after that, I couldn’t express how I felt with just words, haha~” 

“Not that I minded it, though. That was my first kiss, and you made it amazing for me.” Flash cooed, nuzzling against him. 

“Oh my god, we kissed for hours that night.” Quick giggled. “And then when we stopped, we didn’t even know what to begin to say or do after that… so we kissed ‘til we fell asleep.” 

“Heheh… that was a good night.” Flash said, smiling widely to himself. 

“When my legs were fully repaired and functional again, he helped me stand and walk before I headed back to my station to recoup. After that… well… I couldn’t stop thinking about it, or about him. …I ended up writing a letter to him. I even threw a little drawing in there, but you guys probably already know that, right?” Quick explained, glancing at Metal and Crash, and then the reader. The cutter robot and drillbot nodded their heads. 

“We sent each other letters back and forth, and when we actually had the opportunity to be alone together, we did everything. We hung out, talked, vented, kissed, danced…” Flash smirked. “‘Distractions’…” Quick’s trademark smirk finally returned at the mention of distractions. “The more time I spent with him, I began to realize that I was falling in love with him, but then I also began to realize what would happen once we fought Megaman and, well… now I’m glad I got killed twice. I’d rather be here with all of you right now than where we were five years ago.” 

“I second that.” Quick added, in smiling widely. 

“Third that.” Crash added, grinning. 

“F-fourth… that?” Metal said confusedly, but still smiled. 

“So whaddya think? We can’t really judge you guys and how you got together since, uh… ours is a little unconventional, too.” Quick explained, chuckling. 

“OUR CREATOR IS A HUGE PIECE OF SHIT AND I SUPER HATE HIM,” Crash suddenly yelled, “NEXT TIME I SEE ‘IM, I SWEAR I’M GONNA… I-I’M GONNA HURT HIM!” 

“Crash, we can’t do that. We have Asimov’s laws coded into us.” Metal said. 

“Y-yeah, but still… how DARE he do that to Quick! I’m still thinking about it and I just… I… I-I… RAAAAAGHHH!” Crash roared, before firing off both of his drills into the sky. Flash jolted in place, while Quick calmed watched them fly up, before they exploded magnificently, lighting up the entire campsite area. Metal watched amusedly. 

“You feel better after that?” Metal asked. 

“MAYBE SORTA!” Crash answered as two more drills appeared from his forearm sockets. He huffed to himself and calmed down the moment Metal put his hands on his back and gave him soothing pats and rubs. He huffed again and glanced Flash and Quick’s way. “...Oh yeah, and thanks for telling me how you two got close. You’re perfect together!” 

Flash flushed red and he looked down. “W-we’re not perfect, we have our issues…” 

“I don’t know, Flash. From what I’ve seen, it seems like you two are just really good for each other.” Metal added. 

Megaman looked at the temporal robot and smiled widely. “You’re a good man, Flash Man. You’re really good.” 

“Just call me Flash, it’s easier. And thank you.” 

“Well,” Metal began, “Crash basically said everything I need to say about Dr. Wily. I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Quick, holy shit…” 

“Hey, it’s fine. I’m okay now, right?” Quick offered, smiling widely. “And I’ll always be okay as long as I got you guys.” 

“Awwww, Quick!” Crash gushed, before throwing himself onto Quick again. Quick laughed and hugged Crash tightly. Flash thankfully let go of Quick at the last second, for if he had not, he would’ve been crushed under their weight. He and Metal smiled at the sight and knew that what Quick said rang true for not just him, but all of them. That so long as they stuck together, they’d always be okay.

~~~~~

The stars twinkled. The moon dominated the sky and softly illuminated the world, coating all underneath it in soft, glowy tints of cool colors.

Metal gazed up at the view, taking in all the sights. It was so unbelievably refreshing to see the clear sky after the week of storms and thick clouds. He lifted a finger and drew out a pattern between a few of the gleaming dots. It was an indescribable mess of lines, but it didn’t bother him. He thought the humans’ constellations didn’t make sense anyways. 

He exhaled and leaned against the car. His brothers had already went inside the warehouse to rest, Crash content and happy, but not forgetting to shoot Metal a glance. Metal knew he was only going to be out here for a few minutes before he returns indoors and takes his partner on a small trip to Cuddletown. Flash entered the warehouse with Quick by his side, the latter quiet and lost in thought. It must’ve been whatever Dr. Light had pulled him to the side to talk about when they dropped off him and Megaman at their house. 

Metal closed his eyes and let the wind hit his unmasked face. He tried his best to focus on the nature and just let his mind blank. They made good progress today. He didn’t exactly know in what, but he felt like he was productive and alive. _A lot more is probably going to happen in the future, though. … …but it’s okay,_ he thought. _At least we’re not alone anymore. We’re strong. We can handle anything thrown our way as long as we’re together--_

His train of thought was interrupted by a faint sound he heard. His audio receptors twitched and focused in on the quiet noise that rode on the wind. Upon listening harder, he realized it was the sound of whistling. A melancholic, 5-note melody… 

The wind blew harder and a sheet of paper suddenly landed in his face. Metal grunted and grabbed the paper off of him, before looking down at it. There was a message on it, and Metal read it slowly: 

_If you are Metal Man, come to the Monstropolis scrapyard tomorrow at 17:00. I have something you might want._

_Come alone._

The paper didn’t have a signature. 

Metal whipped his head up from the paper and looked around. He didn’t spot anybody in the near vicinity. The whistling had long ended before he read the paper as well. He ran a scan of everything around him as well, and picked up no traces of any robot nearby, other than his family indoors. The burgundy robot straightened himself and headed back to the warehouse. 

He pushed the doors open slowly. “Guys?” He called out. “Guys, you need to see this…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was certainly an emotional rollercoaster! But a good one IMO haha xD 
> 
> Please tell me if that was too much, I don't want to harm any of my readers :c  
> Also please comment and tell me what you think of the chapter! :3 
> 
> Until next time :3


	12. Cry For Help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELP, SCHOOL'S KICKING MY ASS AAAAHHH 
> 
> I'm sorry for posting so late!! Aaaaahh! But I'm really glad that you guys are still reading my fanfic! I'm having fun writing this! :D Also, I tried my best, but this chapter is going to be a little shorter than usual. 
> 
> Enjoy the chapter and happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate that!

Breathe, just breathe. 

 

Take deep breaths. 

 

I can do this. I can do this…! 

 

A certain burgundy-colored cutter robot inhaled and exhaled deeply, yet shakily. He was nearly trembling with both anticipation and nervousness, and has been so for the past day. By his side, leaned his orange drillbot partner who threw his arms around him as best as he could. They were nearly glued to one another in the backseat of the car that Flash drove, with Quick in the shotgun seat once again. Metal breathed to himself. “I… I-I can do this,” He lied to himself, “There’s nothing to be afraid of.” And yet, everytime he chanted the mantra to himself quietly, it only made him feel slightly worse. 

 

Crash wished he could’ve pulled him tighter into the hug or rubbed his back or do something to help him relax, but sadly he has drills for hands. “Yeah, you can do it! Don’t worry too hard about it… it’s probably nothing awful or big!” He said supportively, looking up at him. Metal adjusted himself and shifted in his seat so he could pull Crash into his own embrace and lean back against the pillow that has become a regular piece of their car by now. 

 

“Oh… oh yeah, totally. You know, just some whistling scraphead who’s been tailing us from a distance for a while now finally wants to confront me… alone. In the scrapyard of a half-ruined city. Y-yeah, it’s probably nothing big,” Metal said nervously. He tried his hardest to really believe what he was saying, but he couldn’t control his anxiety from freely flowing through him. He didn’t know what was going to happen, and he hated it. It twisted his wires up inside. Crash scooted up closer to Metal’s face and carefully lifted a drill so the tip just barely grazed Metal’s cheek. God, he wished he could caress his face… 

 

“Okay, fine. BUT,” Crash piped up, “you won’t really be alone. We’ll be somewhere close by. If things go to hell, you can just get out of there, right? We’ll be there, it’ll be okay. We’ll help you get out of there… or kick his butt. Oooh, we could blow him up…” He couldn’t help himself but smile a little at his own idea. 

 

Despite being poked lightly in the cheek with the tip of a large drill, Metal couldn’t help but relax a little bit at the feeling. He closed his eyes for a moment. “Crash, thank you, but… agh, I don’t know what I’m supposed to expect. Is he going to fight me? Is this a trap? Am I going to get ambushed or captured or something?” 

 

“I highly doubt it would be an ambush, especially if they know who we are.” Flash piped in. “And if it is an ambush… Do you remember our training? We can always send out S.O.S. signals to each other if we need to.” 

 

“I remember that,” Metal said. He remembered having to look for Heat so many times… 

 

“If you send us that signal, we’ll know where your location is by coordinate. We’ll immediately come to you and find you. I promise we won’t let anything happen to you.” Flash said. “You’re going to be okay.” 

 

“Yeah, and if the guy challenges ya to a one-on-one, just punch ‘em. You’ve got a hard hook AND ya got Metal Blades, too. You got this.” Quick added, smirking. 

 

“But I’ve only been in two real battles, technically! And lost twice! And I got beheaded! I have scars from it!” Metal objected. Crash shot him a curious look. 

 

“You do?” Crash asked, before flitting his eyes down to Metal’s neck. Said robot paused for a moment, before exhaling softly and bringing a hand to the flexible neck collar of his torso armor. He pulled it down to reveal torn, charcoal-colored synthetic skin, and a horizontal, silver scar going all the way around the base of his neck. Crash’s eyes widened. “Oh…” He breathed. Metal simply pulled the neck collar back into place, completely concealing and hiding the neck scar. 

 

“Yeah, but that was Megaman we were fighting. And how many fights has that kid won? I hate to say it, but he’s stronger than all of us combined,” Quick said. “I’m pretty sure if you end up fighting another robot that ain’t him, you’d probably win pretty quickly. I think you fight good.” 

 

“Okay, one: I thought you didn’t like lying,” Metal cracked, smirking a little behind his mask. “And two: I don’t know for that for sure! Yeah, we’re all built and designed for battling, but what if it turns out that I just suck at it?” Considering all of his design flaws and his outdated build, he wouldn’t even be surprised if he wasn’t even good at the one thing he was created for and expected to do. 

 

“Metal, that’s not true, you don’t suck.” Crash reassured him. “And even if you get into a fight and lose, that doesn’t mean you’re bad at fighting, either. We’re all still growing and learning together, right? We’re only getting better!” He chirped. Quick smirked and gave Crash a thumbs up from the front seat. 

 

Metal’s eyes met with Crash’s and he huffed to himself. “... ...You’re right. And even if shit still hits the fan, I still have you guys to fall back on. I just have to… tell myself that a lot.” He breathed out quietly. “I just can’t help but be nervous…” 

 

“I know,” Crash said softly. “But didn’t the letter say that he has something you might want? It might not turn out badly at all. Maybe you won’t even have to fight anyone.” He smiled gently at Metal and the drillbot soon felt the arms wrapped around him tug him more and he nuzzled into Metal’s chest. However, it was short lived, as the car slowed to a stop, surrounding them was what felt like an empty shell of what the lively city used to be. The skies had somewhat cleared and the sun was setting. Everything around them was in generally worse-looking condition than usual, and pieces of junk and scrap littered the streets around them. In front of them stood the entrance to the city’s scrapyard, a large, expansive area filled with nothing but… 

 

Metal shuddered as Crash slowly pushed himself off of him. He took a deep breath and turned to open the car door, but not before… “Hey.” Crash said. Metal turned back around, only for him to freeze and widen his eyes a little when Crash leaned forward and met his lips with Metal’s mask. He stared at him, before suddenly breaking out into small chuckles. 

 

“I think you missed.” Metal said, retracting his mask and then leaning forward and tilting his head enough to meet his scarred lips with Crash’s. He pressed needily against the drillbot and Crash eagerly returned the kiss, trying to comfort him as best as he could, before the both of them broke away. 

 

“You’re gonna be okay, okay?” Crash said. 

 

“Yeah, what Crashy said. We’re probably gonna hang around the city and look for somethin’ to do. And when you’re done with it, send us a signal and tell us what happened, yeah?” Quick added. Metal nodded. 

 

“Yeah. A-alright, yeah! Thank you, everyone.” Metal breathed, smiling behind his mask a little. He opened the car door and stepped out. 

 

“Go get ‘em, Metal Blades!” Quick called out to him. Crash blew the burgundy robot a kiss through the car window before said car slowly drove off. Metal smiled softly before he turned around and faced the entrance to the scrapyard… 

 

“Do you think Metal is going to be alright on his own, really?” Flash asked once he drove down a couple of blocks. 

 

“Yeah, he’ll be fine.” Quick said confidently. “He’s got the strongest weapon of all of us. And he’s smart.” 

 

“Well, I guess all we can do is wait and see what happens, then…” Flash replied. He knew Quick was absolutely right, but a small of part of him couldn’t help but worry. 

 

Crash remained quiet as he stared out of the car window. He would’ve added something, had everything he already was thinking had not been said already. He knew Metal could hold his own, but he couldn’t help but worry about him. He knew he gets much more anxious by himself, and what if something bad really does happen? His drills twitched. Flash was right. There’s no need to worry now when all they can do is see what happens in the next few hours. 

 

He watched as Flash turned another corner and he noticed that they were driving along the edge of the park they had visited last week. What had used to been clean and green and beautiful even now was a mess just like the rest of the city. Trees were knocked over, garbage and debris from other parts of the city had been thrown everywhere, and parts of the park even now were still partially flooded. His optics looked all over the half-destroyed greenery, before focusing on what looked like a blob of black in the distance. Upon focusing and zooming in, he could sort of make out that the black blob was actually just a ton of… “STOP THE CAR!” Crash suddenly shouted, making Flash jolt in place before slamming his foot on the brake, and nearly launching Quick through the front windshield. 

 

“What?! What happened?!” Flash yelped while Quick groaned irritably and collected himself. 

 

Crash used both drills to fumble with the car door’s handle until (after much struggling) he managed to open the car door. He tumbled out of it and ran towards the black mess. “BIRDS!!” He shouted. Flash stared out the window at Crash running towards them in disbelief. 

 

Upon seeing the massive orange robot approach them however, the black birds did not run away or become startled. Instead, they swarmed over to Crash, cawing loudly. He stared at all of the birds confusedly, as their calls only grew more and more distressed. “Wha…” He uttered in bafflement, looking at each of them. They only cawed at him more. He wished he could understand bird speak… He looked around the crows to notice a flapping mess behind them, making noises too weak to be considered cawing of any sort. His eyes widened at the sight. There was a crow tangled in wiring… “Oh no… oh no!” Crash gasped, before turning around. “Quick! Flash! Come over here! There’s a bird in trouble!” He called out. 

 

“What kind of trouble? Does it matter to us?” Quick called out. 

 

“OF COURSE IT MATTERS! IT’S A _BIRD!”_ Crash barked, before looking down at the poor trapped crow. “H-hey. There, there, once my brothers get over here, we’ll get you out of that…” He wished badly that he had hands, as he was almost certain there was no way he would untangle this bird without poking and hurting it.

 

Quick and Flash looked at each other for a moment. Soon enough, Flash sighed and turned off the car. They both were at Crash’s side in no time and the blue Robot Master kneeled down to gently hold the bird and carefully untangle the wiring from its body. The crow shook itself and cawed normally now. However, when it tried to stand up, it kept falling back over in Flash’s hands, until it just gave up. The other crows began to cry out in distress again. “It’s hurt…” He said quietly. 

 

Quick hesitantly lifted a hand and carefully pushed the crow’s feathers away, exposing one of the crow’s legs which was… Quick’s eyes widened. “Yeah, no kidding. Its leg is messed up.” Now it matters to him, a lot. Crash was about to say something, but Quick stood up and spoke first. “Say no more, we’re fixing this bird. Everyone to the car.”

~~~~~

Metal took a deep breath and beheld the vast expense of steel garbage and forgotten scrap before him.

 

This is it. The robot that’s been stalking them finally wants a confrontation. But he couldn’t help but wonder why he wanted to see him of all robots. He wasn’t even the leader of his family… Maybe it was because he’s the oldest, and therefore been around the longest? Whatever the case, the only thing that was going to quell his anxiety was to just enter the damn place and get this over with. 

 

He began to slowly make his way into the scrapyard, heading directly straight to the heart of it. Surrounding him was mountains of scrap metal, junk, and… pieces of broken robots. Metal looked at one pile and found the lifeless gaze of what almost looked like a broken Robot Master staring right back at him. He shuddered harshly and looked away. This place was already haunting and he’s only been here for less than five minutes. It reminded him way too much of the dump he found Crash’s destroyed body in. Maybe it was better that Crash and Flash never ended up coming here. 

 

It took him a few dozen minutes or so of exploring the place for him to realize two things. The first thing being that this place was enormous and that both impressed him and raised a couple of questions. The second was that amongst the garbage and forgotten chunks of robots here, there was no set clear path or order in this scrapyard. Just junk everywhere… well, except for a clearing he saw at the very far edge of the whole place. That must be where this mystery robot meant in his message. 

 

Breathe, he commanded himself. Breathe and calm yourself. Panicking isn’t going to help me in the next few minutes. I might be alone right now, but my family has my back. And I’m strong. I’ve already been through the worst! I can do this! Robot Masters keep fighting no matter what. …Even if they’re terrified. 

 

He walked right into the center of the small clearing. Surrounding him all around were tall piles of scrap, and a lone, tiny building a couple of dozen feet away. Metal took another deep breath. His internal clock told him he was on time. Well… “Hey,” he called out to no one in particular, “I’m here now. Someone wanted me here?” 

 

Nobody but silence answered him. Metal waited. 

 

“Well?” Metal called out again. He waited more, but only the still, dead silence of the empty, abandoned scrapyard filled the air around him. His voice echoed slightly. He began to grow impatient. 

 

“If no one’s going to answer me, I’m leaving this place.” 

 

Metal turned around and was about to start heading towards the exit when suddenly… 

 

“I didn’t think you’d actually show up,” an unfamiliar voice suddenly spoke, and it was WAY too close-sounding than Metal was comfortable with. The cutter robot whirled around and looked around, only to see nobody nearby. He took a defensive stance, receptors twitching and listening closely. 

 

“Well, what can I say? I don’t like disappointing my fans.” Metal quipped, before narrowing his eyes. He didn’t like being here, and wanted to get this over with quickly. “You said you had something I wanted, right?” 

 

“...It might be something you’d want. It depends,” the voice mused, “But can you answer a question for me first?” 

 

Metal remained quiet for a moment, before slowly giving a nod in no particular direction. 

 

The voice sounded horribly close again from behind him. “Why are you active?” Metal whirled around again, but no one was there. 

 

“That’s classified. I don’t give that kind of information to strangers who don’t show their face to me,” Metal immediately responded, becoming irritated that he can’t pinpoint where this robot actually is. He ran an optic scan around him, and found a signature of a robot hiding behind one of the scrap piles. He took note that not only was it a robot he’s never seen before, but the signature itself was… odd. 

 

“You’ve spent the past few months searching for your brethren and reactivating them.” The voice said. “Why? Is it a mission?” The voice paused. “...Is Dr. Wily reusing his robots? Is there going to be a 10th War?” 

 

Metal stayed quiet, glaring at that particular scrap pile as if he could bore holes into it. “I can’t tell you that or trust you if I don’t see you, or know who you are.” 

 

“And I’m not showing myself until you answer me.” 

 

The cutter robot huffed and growled. “Then we’re at a stalemate. I’m leaving now.” And with that, Metal turned around and began to walk back towards the other side of the scrapyard and its entrance. But almost immediately, he heard the sound of something screeching through the air and he just barely jumped out of the way in time to dodge something that was flying blindingly fast towards him. He looked around again and manifested two Metal Blades into his hands. He ran another optic scan only to find out that the robot had completely disappeared from behind the massive scrap pile. 

 

“I would not suggest turning your back on me.” The voice warned, having turned menacing. 

 

“Yeah? Just watch me.” Metal snapped, turning his back again and trying again to leave. But suddenly, out of nowhere-- 

 

BAM!! 

 

Metal recoiled and fell over from a kick to the face that seemingly came out of absolutely nowhere. But as quickly as he fell, he was immediately back on his feet. His eyes looked around more carefully now. Okay, where the hell was this piece of scrap… 

 

“If you want to see me so badly, then so be it, but you’re not going to like it. Prove yourself to me that you’re the real Metal Man and I will prove myself to be taken seriously.” 

 

Metal, having forgotten his previous anxiety, and was now filled with nothing short of aggravation and caution, picked up his dropped Metal Blades. He scowled behind his mask. If it’s a fight he wants, oh, it’s a fight he’s getting. He thought to himself. Of course, he was right from before… 

 

“Of course…” He muttered to himself before speaking up. “Challenge accepted. Make your move.” 

 

Almost instantly, said mystery robot moved, leaping high up into the air. Metal heard the sounds of his launch and clattering scrap metal and looked around wide-eyed, but he spotted him too late, or rather, the weapon he threw. He lept out of the way of three of them digging themselves into the ground, and threw his Metal Blades directly at the Robot Master. However, the sawblades cut through nothing. Metal’s eyes widened. That was his afterimage…! This robot is FAST-- 

 

He whipped around to see more blurs heading his way and he threw himself out of the way barely in time. He looked to where the robot had thrown them, only to realize that he wasn’t there anymore. He growled in annoyance. How the hell was this guy moving around SO QUICKLY?! Was there a robot out there that truly was as fast as Quick? Or even _faster?_ He had to figure it out somehow! 

 

But not down here. If he stayed down here on ground level, he’s only bound to get hit. Metal broke into a run towards one of the nearest scrap piles and suddenly leaped high into the air and landed flawlessly onto the very top of the pile of scrap. He looked around carefully, trying to find any hint or trace of the robot attacking him. He groaned to himself. How the hell was he supposed to even fight a robot that he didn’t even get a good look at yet? And on top of that, in a place filled with robots to begin with! His optics darted around, carefully and thoroughly checking everywhere for a trace of movement amongst all the stillness. Suddenly, the sounds of metal bits clattering and clanging noisily sounded and Metal whipped his head to the right. All he saw was pieces of scrap metal falling from their pile. 

 

He moved. He just moved somewhere. He didn’t see it, but he has to keep a keen eye now-- OH SHIT-- 

 

At that precise moment, Metal felt something pierce his left shoulder deeply. He gasped and then the weight underneath him shifted and he lost his balance, and now he was falling down the damn pile of scrap metal. He tumbled down the tall pile of junk and landed on his side. But he didn’t care about falling down. 

 

“Fuck…!” Metal hissed. His shoulder, his left shoulder was BURNING, but not in a hot-temperature-kind of way. His fingertips were rapidly turning numb, and then his hand and then his forearm-- Metal frantically reached his right hand over his left shoulder and grabbed frantically until they touched something sharp, something metallic. He gripped it tightly and ripped it out of his shoulder, stifling a yelp of pain. In his right hand was a metallic blade a bit similar to his own Metal Blades, except that it had four distinct pointed edges rather than the many that his own wielded. A black… …was it misty or slimy…? A black, strange substance oozed out of the metal surface and was seeping into the crevices in his right hand’s fingers and-- oh god, it burns like HELL! He hissed again and shakily dropped it and tried to push himself up but… 

 

Oh god, he couldn’t feel his left arm. He looked at it and tried to move it, but it just hung limply. “Shit,” He cursed quietly, before looking up and-- oh shit, more blades were thrown directly at his head. He summoned a Metal Blade in his right hand and rolled out of the way, before hopping back onto his feet. He didn’t throw his blade this time, though. He looked up and saw the shaded silhouette of the robot fly by for just a split second… 

 

How the hell did he move from somewhere below him to that high up in the air without his notice…? He would’ve seen him jumping! Maybe it wasn’t speed… Could he teleport? Or maybe freeze time like Flash could? He doubted it was the latter, otherwise, he’d probably would have gotten hit a lot more by now. He was certainly using some kind of trick, he was almost certain. Was it an illusion of some sort? Was whatever he was looking at truly there, or was it just a trick so he could get attacked from behind again? Metal stood still and carefully listened for any kind of audio cue. Soon enough he heard something in front of him move and then the screeching of metal cutting through the air, and he turned around in time to dodge more of the blades thrown his way. 

 

...Hmmm. He felt like he might be picking up on a familiar attack pattern. Every time he gets attacked, it’s usually from behind… Could that be because of his trick…? Whatever it was, he didn’t have much time left before he was completely at a disadvantage. While he was built with probably the best eyes out of all of his brethren and it allowed him sharp, clear, advanced perception, having night vision was unfortunately not included with that. Or was it, actually? Dr. Light did modify and upgrade his body… Regardless, he didn’t want to find out by battling into the middle of the night. The sun was setting fast, casting long and exaggerated shadows across the city and the scrapyard. 

 

Wait. Metal stood there and thought carefully in the fleeting seconds that passed by in between attacks. 

 

Long, exaggerated shadows…? Shadows are usually behind things… 

 

Suddenly and without warning, Metal whipped around and looked at his own shadow and for a second, found the Robot Master he was fighting sticking halfway out of his owN SHADOW-- “WHAT THE SHIT--” Metal inhaled sharply in surprise and jumped backwards to see the Robot Master quickly sink back completely into the darkness again. Oh god. Oh god he can travel through shadows. Where the hell is he? He’s probably going to attack again in a second or two oh god he has to guess-- 

 

Metal landed and whipped around, looking closely at the shadows the tall piles of scrap created and for a split second saw the Robot Master submerge completely into the shade of the scrap pile, indirectly causing pieces of scrap and junk to fall over. Which means…! The cutter robot suddenly turned around again and threw his Metal Blade without hesitation. The sawblade screeched and ripped through the air, and then buried itself into the stomach of the Robot Master. Metal smirked behind his mask. Direct hit. 

 

The Robot Master fell to the ground ungracefully, and seconds later, Metal was standing above him, but had taken extra care to go around him so he did not cast his own shadow over him. Metal summoned two more Metal Blades in between his right hand’s fingertips and then threw the both of them into the Robot Master’s hands. The blades dug deep into the center of them. He summoned two more and buried them into the robot’s thighs next. “You’re not going anywhere,” Metal said quietly, before taking a good look at the robot. 

 

Said robot was colored mostly white and navy blue and Metal couldn’t help but notice he had a body design a bit similar to his own. His chest was partially exposed and covered in fishnet, and his helmet had a blade on the front of it just like his own helmet. The robot wore a long scarf around his neck colored a muted red. The Robot Master opened his eyes, revealing scarlet irises just like his own, and stared at Metal. “...Are you going to stare at me all night?” He cracked, laying there motionlessly in defeat. 

 

“Maybe. You’re pretty interesting to look at.” Metal said. “So you don’t have a shield, and I’m assuming you’re not the whistler, and you don’t have white hands either. Who are you, then? Spit it out, I won the fight. And I’m Metal Man, by the way, if you couldn’t guess before. Do you believe I’m the real deal now?” 

 

The robot didn’t answer him and stared, but eventually did give him a nod. Metal sighed. 

 

“Gonna have to play the guessing game, huh? Well, you’re definitely a Robot Master, and you were in the dark, mostly… So your name is…” Metal thought about it for a second or two. “Dark Man, right?” 

 

The robot stared at him. “...w-what-- no?” He sputtered in bafflement. 

 

Metal thought more. He was hiding in the shadows… “Shade Man?” 

 

“No.” The robot was giving him a look now. 

 

“Junk Man?” 

 

“NO!” He yelled at Metal, irritated. “It’s SHADOW Man! Shadow! How could you get it so wrong?” 

 

Metal only shrugged. “Well, I tried. ‘Guess naming isn’t really where I excel at.” 

 

Shadow Man sighed and composed himself, breathing slowly. “My name is Shadow Man. I come from the third generation of Robot Masters. I fought against Megaman in the 3rd War. I’m a Wilybot like you.” Upon hearing the news, Metal’s receptor extensions perked up and he brightened considerably. 

 

“Oh! It’s nice to meet you, then! I’ve never met anyone from the third generation yet.” Metal chirped, smiling behind his mask, before his smile faltered a bit. “You know, I’d shake your hand, but…” 

 

“It’s fine.” Shadow said, before slowly moving his trembling hands together and grabbed one of the Metal Blades buried into his hands. Metal’s eyes widened and he cautiously began to reach for him. 

 

“Hey-- h-hey, be careful! Metal Blade edges are very jagged and are meant to tear out--” Aaaaand Shadow ripped it out of his hand. Of course. Sliced and torn wires were jutting out of his hands. “That’s gross,” Metal pointed out, “and you probably need new hands now.” 

 

However, Shadow shook his head. “No, I’ll be alright. Thank you for your concern, though.” He slowly and carefully sat up though, despite the Metal Blade buried in his robotic abdomen. He held his trembling hand out despite having so many important wires torn out of it. Metal firmly shook his hand but shuddered slightly at the touch of all those essential and important bits sticking out of his hand. “It’s a great honor to be able to meet a second generatio--” 

 

But Metal almost immediately yanked his hand free of Shadow’s, yelping. “Something moved! Your wires are moving!” He said, grabbing Shadow’s hand again as soon as he let go of it. He scrutinized the navy blue hand carefully. And then his eyes turned huge. The wires that jutted out of Shadow’s hand were suddenly retreating back into his hand. The same black slimy, misty substance from before was coating over and oozing through his wires, said wires slowly rebuilding themselves bit by bit. Shadow pulled his hand back, and Metal looked up at him. “H-how…?” He sputtered.

 

“My body can self-repair. It’s just a part of my coding makeup.” Shadow explained, shrugging. He then attempted to push himself up onto his feet, but his legs refused to cooperate and gave out. He simply sat back down. “Do you mind if you could lend a hand?” 

 

Metal smirked behind his mask and snickered. “Sure. ‘Only got one good one right now anyways. Here.” He held out his functional hand and Shadow grabbed it and Metal pulled him to his feet, only for him to collapse against Metal shakily. Shadow leaned against Metal for support as he shakily began to pull out the Metal Blades buried into his legs, and then the Metal Blade in his abdomen, and then the ‘Blade in his other hand. “...I have so many questions.” Metal breathed, watching Shadow’s body get ripped and torn by his weapon, only for it to start very slowly fixing itself with that strange black wispy substance, the very same that rendered his left arm useless. He looked up and down Shadow, who shakily leaned himself against him but then he noticed something wet and shiny and dark around his abdomen. His eyes widened. “Oh, you’re bleeding,” Metal breathed, “...that’s gross, too.” Just what the hell was Shadow Man’s body made of? Why does he BLEED like a human does? How is he able to self-repair and regenerate? He was so strange already and he just met him! He had so many more questions now… 

 

Shadow didn’t say anything as he threw a shaky arm around Metal’s shoulder, silently agreeing with him, as Metal did the same. He then pointed over to the small, shack-sized building that stood a couple dozen feet away from the clearing. “We can talk more inside. I still have my questions, too.” Metal took the first step forward, Shadow shakily stepping after him. They slowly made their way towards the little building, taking careful but shaky, injured steps. “Agh… you sure did a number on me.” 

 

“Sorry about that. I didn’t want to deal with anymore sneak attacks after I figured out your trick. Are we cool with each other?” Metal asked, albeit a bit awkwardly. “And by the way, you’ve proved yourself more than enough to me. You’re rather scary to battle.” 

 

The navy Robot Master couldn’t help but smile and faintly blush. “Oh, t-thank you. I’m really happy to hear that, actually! You’re also quite the challenge to fight as well. You’re quick to react, and your aim is terrifyingly accurate. Those Metal Blades of yours are just as deadly as I’ve heard they would be. And yes, we are cool.” 

 

“Really?” Metal asked, becoming genuinely curious now. “There’s rumors about me? What kind of things have been said?” 

 

“To be quite honest… not a lot. The second generation Robot Masters have been shrouded in mystery to me, my brothers, and the Wilybots that succeeded us. I’ve only heard anything about you from Dr. Wily years ago…” Now, he had Metal’s eyes boring into him with genuine interest. “All he said about you was that you had a horribly strong weapon, and that you were his first Robot Master, and that we all needed to work more like how you did.” 

 

“Wow.” Metal said, eyes widening. Dr. Wily actually said something decent about him. That’s both shocking and flattering, and yet… he couldn’t shake the feeling that that couldn’t possibly be right. There’s no way Dr. Wily could’ve said anything nice about his failures. That just didn’t make sense! The two of them finally made it to the small building after spending the past few minutes carefully stepping around pieces of junk and scrap metal, and making sure not to trip over it. Shadow reached a recovering, bleeding hand over to the door handle and opened it, and Metal helped shuffle him in. 

 

The inside of the building was much smaller than how it looked on the outside. It looked like what was once an abandoned office space was now turned into a personalized room of sorts. There was a couch-turned-bed, a radio, all kinds of collected, useful-looking scrap in one corner of the room… But what stood out most to Metal was the large desk covered in papers. Newspaper clippings, photographs, and files littered and cluttered the surface of the desk, and so many sticky notes tacked onto everything… and he then realized that half of them were about himself and his family, the other half about Dr. Wily… He gently put Shadow down on the couch and sat next to him. “Looks like you’ve been busy,” Metal commented, before a thought came across his mind. “...Do you live here?” 

 

Shadow softly exhaled and leaned back against the couch. “... …Yes. I didn’t exactly know where else to stay.” 

 

“But why here of all places? This place is a… a dump.” Metal said. “The scrapyard, I mean. It’s full of scrapped robots…” Shadow remained quiet and never answered him. Metal leaned back against the couch as well. “How long have you stayed here?” 

 

Shadow paused again, an indescribable look flashing on his face for a moment before collecting his thoughts. “...Four years.” 

 

Metal’s eyes widened and he sat up again. “You’ve been active for four years?!” He nearly yelped in surprise. He noticed Shadow give him a weird look, and he composed himself again. “Does Megaman know about this? About you being active this whole time? Or Doctor Light?” 

 

Shadow shook his head and his voice was quiet. “No. Neither of them know anything. But Proto Man knows.” 

 

Now it was Metal’s turn to give Shadow an odd look. His receptor twitched and he tilted his head slightly. “Who’s Proto Man?” 

 

“The whistling robot with the shield you were referring to before.” 

 

“...Oh.” Metal said, before relaxing against the couch cushions again. “Are you two friends or family or something?” 

 

“I wouldn’t say ‘friends.’” Shadow answered, looking down at his hands. The wires were fully repaired and had fitted themselves back into place by now, and the metal that covered them was slowly reforming and closing up. “I mean, we only share one thing in common… You could say we’re… acquaintances.” 

 

“Oh? What do you share?” 

 

Shadow snickered to himself and smirked. “We’re old.” 

 

Metal smirked as well. “Older than me, even?” 

 

Shadow didn’t even hesitate. “Definitely older.” Metal lifted an eyebrow, but politely remained quiet. “And you know… despite that, I still feel like looking up to you in a way. I’ve always envisioned you to be this really cool and mysterious Robot Master. I mean, I-I never thought I’d ever get to meet any second generation Robot Masters in my life…” He couldn’t help himself but smile a little bit at the cutter robot. 

 

“Well, you’re certainly in for a world of disappointment, then,” Metal chuckled, before looking down at himself. “...Dr. Wily never recovered nor reactivated me. …You?” 

 

Shadow’s smile slowly fell off of his face and he looked down at his body again, glazing over all of the deep cuts in his body. “Oh… He didn’t…? Ah.” He couldn’t help but quiet himself a little more, and for about a second, Metal noticed something… sad in Shadow’s expression. “He never reactivated me either.” 

 

The burgundy 2nd Gen blinked and gazed at the navy 3rd Gen for a moment, before scooting himself closer to him. “I figured as much. The old Doctor never really recovered any of us, from what I’ve heard. But… If you’ve been active for four years, but Dr. Wily never recovered you, and Dr. Light doesn’t know about you, then what happened…?” 

 

“What happened…?” Shadow repeated, before sinking into the cushions more. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before opening them. There it was again, Metal thought, that sadness and tiredness that Shadow was hiding before. The ninja robot’s mouth curled downward into a frown. “I reactivated myself. After Megaman defeated me the second time, my body self-repaired and… I just woke up one day. I tried to go back to Wily Ca-- well, my generation’s Wily Castle, but when I went there, it was in ruins and destroyed. I… didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t know where Dr. Wily was. I tried searching everywhere, even your Wily Castle, but I couldn’t find him. And then--” 

 

“You went to my generation’s castle…?” Metal asked, wide-eyed. “Was there anyone there?!” He asked a little desperately, but the navy robot simply and sadly shook his head no. “Oh.” His receptor extensions drooped a little. “G-go on.” 

 

“...And then I found him. It was completely by chance and maybe… what was it… two years after I began searching for him…?” Shadow’s expression turned bitter and hurt. “He almost didn’t recognize me. He was working on a robot called Bass by then. I told him how happy and relieved I was to find him, and that I was ready to work for him again and I was going to try harder and succeed and defeat Megaman because that’s my purpose in life and I thought Dr. Wily was pretty happy, too…” He inhaled softly and glanced at Metal. The cutter robot’s full attention was on him, listening intently. “But he told me that he was planning something big, and that he didn’t need me right then. And then he took me to the scrapyard and ordered me to stay here until he came back with a mission.” 

 

Metal looked away from Shadow and gazed at the clutter on the old, dusty desk. The two of them were quiet, and for about a minute, the only thing that filled the silence in the air was the hum of the old ceiling fan. “But he never came back. That’s why you’re still here, right?” He spoke softly. 

 

“N-not never!” Shadow suddenly objected. “He’s going to come back! E-eventually, but I can wait it out! He’s going to come back. He’ll return soon…” He was looking into Metal’s red eyes, as if they held any kind of clarity or answers for him. “...Right…?” 

 

Metal returned his wide-eyed look with a melancholic expression. He had to admit that despite looking similar in design, Shadow definitely had a lot more hope than he did. He felt a little bad knowing that he was about to crush it. “Shadow Man-- can I call you Shadow? … …Dr. Light recovered my body parts and reactivated me for an experiment he’s trying out before Dr. Wily even gave us a second thought. He didn’t even learn that we were reactivated until half of us were recovered. And then we ended up splitting from him anyways and began doing our own thing. Oh, and that’s the experiment, by the way. Us doing our own thing.” 

 

Shadow’s desperate expression turned into confusion. “What…? Really? Why would you want to do your own thing, though? Why not work under Dr. Wily? We owe everything to him! He gave us all a purpose to live. A reason to be alive. He created us! Err…” Shadow hesitated on that last statement for a moment, before shaking his head and staying quiet. 

 

Metal’s receptors and eyes twitched. He could quickly feel his sadness start to morph into something else at Shadow’s words. “Well, unlike yourself, none of my brothers, nor myself, can self-repair. Dr. Wily abandoned us for five whole years and left our bodies littered around our stations like trash. He never recovered us, never repaired us, never gave us a second chance at being active and alive and having a purpose. He left us to decay.” He grit his teeth lightly and then suddenly retracted his mask. Shadow’s eyes widened as Metal pointed to the scar that reached from his cheek through his lips to his chin. “You see this scar? This can’t get repaired unless my entire face gets replaced. I’ve got more scars in other places too, thanks to Megaman. They’re reminders of my failures. I’m just a failure to Dr. Wily. If I wasn’t a failure to him though, if I wasn’t garbage to him, if I were cherished and loved by him instead, I would’ve been recovered, and these would’ve been fixed.” He spat, gesturing to his facial scar again. “He would’ve forgiven me and taken me back and give me a second purpose in life. Hell, maybe he even would’ve upgraded me, but no, you know who did that? Dr. Light, of all people. If he valued and cared about any one of us, he would’ve done that. Now my brothers and I are trying to find that second purpose ourselves.” 

 

Shadow was silent, staring at Metal and processing everything that he just said. His eyes kept flitting back to Metal’s mouth scar. Said robot’s expression turned hateful and his ripped lips curled upward a bit awkwardly. “So you tell me why the hell we owe him anything after he threw us away. When he didn’t have to… When Dr. Light treats his own robots like his children… when we’re technically his _children_ and he threw us away and abandoned us all!” He slowly sat up and began to briskly pace back and forth. He could feel something hot and invasive beginning to boil inside him. It felt like simmering, hot anger… 

 

The navy Robot Master shifted in his seat. His legs weakly shifted as well, and he realized that his healing was slowing down. And then he realized he was trembling a little, but he didn’t know why. “...T-that can’t be right, though… W-why would he go so far to make us so special and important, only to leave us b-behind…? W-we can’t just be disposable. H-he has to come back… he has to, e-eventually--” 

 

“He isn’t!” Metal suddenly snapped at him, and Shadow’s eyes widened more as his trembling intensified. The cutter robot continued, unaware of how intimidating he looked and sounded when he was angry. “Look around, Shadow! You’re in a dump! A garbage site for scrap! There’s robot corpses everywhere! Don’t you realize what kind of gesture that is? Dr. Wily threw you away, too! Albeit, in a more complex way than everyone else, but still. You’re as much garbage to him as my entire family is. Hell, he probably was just lying to you when he implied that he’d return! He’s not coming back. … …” Metal closed his eyes and took a deep breath, composing himself. “I didn’t mean to get pissy. Sorry about that. It just… hurts a lot. Does it hurt for you, too?” 

 

Shadow finally tore his eyes away from Metal and he leaned back against the couch yet again. Pain began to crawl onto his expression amongst his sadness. “Like you wouldn’t believe. I don’t want to believe it. God, I don’t want to believe it… like a part of me wants to hold onto and remember all the better sides of Dr. Wily--” 

 

“Are you certain that’s just not your programming?” Metal asked. “You said that you self-repaired and just woke up one day, and you’re still here, so doesn’t that mean Dr. Wily’s programming is still in you?” 

 

“S-still!” Shadow objected. “I know it’s still there, but… b-but…” He shut his eyes and grit his teeth. A trembling hand rested on the shuriken attached to the front of his helm. “It just seems so unbelievable whenever I think about it. It’s… hard to believe what you’re saying, even though I know it should make perfect sense. It hurts so much, though. I…” He tried to focus on his words, like he was recollecting himself. “It’s like it’s hitting me for the first time, every time. I thought that my purpose in life was to serve Dr. Wily, but I guess I wasn’t meant fo…” He suddenly twitched violently and went quiet. His body became stiff and still for a moment. Metal watched him carefully and wide-eyed. After a few more seconds, Shadow came back to life and spoke up again. “... … …I thought that my purpose in life was to serve Dr. Wily, since he was technically my second chance already.” 

 

Metal’s anger seeped away as rapidly as it formed and his expression turned melancholic again. He walked over to him and sat down next to him. He put his hand on his shoulder. “I know. I know.” He said softly. 

 

“About him being my second chance?” Shadow asked curiously. Metal simply shook his head and patted his shoulder, making soft, metallic clanks. Shadow looked at him confusedly. 

 

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” Metal said. 

 

The ninja robot looked at him confusedly again, before shaking his head. “Ah, okay then.” A navy hand brought itself up to Shadow’s chin and he looked like he was trying hard to recollect something. Metal waited patiently. But soon, he let out an exhale of defeat. “I…” He began, looking down sheepishly and frowning, “I-I… forgive me. W-what were we talking about just before?” 

 

Metal smiled softly at him. “Nothing important, really. Just chitchat.” 

 

“Ah, okay.” Shadow said quietly. He tried to smile but it twitched and slowly faded away. They were silent for a few moments. Metal relaxed more. 

 

“Hey, I’m gonna ask a weird question, ‘you okay with that?” He suddenly spoke up.

 

“Uhh… o-okay?” 

 

“Do you want a hug?” 

 

“Uhhh…” Shadow uttered. Metal held his one working arm out wide open for the ninja robot, offering another gentle smile, one that he normally tries to reserve for only Crash. Shadow stared at him wide-eyed and surprised, processing what he was looking at, before his body stiffened. He looked like he was about to move forward for a moment, but he hesitated. Metal waited a little more and Shadow hesitated again. The navy robot was looking everywhere except him. Metal then gently reached his arm over and softly tugged at Shadow until he complied and carefully wrapped his arms around the cutter robot. Metal wrapped his arm around Shadow and said robot rested his face in the crook of Metal’s neck. The cutter robot rubbed his hand up and down Shadow’s back. The two of them stayed like that for a while, and Shadow began to relax slightly in Metal’s embrace. “Are you hurting?” Metal broke the silence and murmured to him. 

 

Shadow nodded slowly. “Yes.” He muttered back at him. 

 

“...Are you tired?” 

 

“God, yes.” Shadow whispered. 

 

“Relax.” Metal murmured. It was less of an order and more of a comforting suggestion. 

 

“...I can’t.” Shadow replied softly. 

 

Metal didn’t respond and pulled him closer into his embrace. His hand smoothed up and down Shadow’s back. Soon enough, he felt Shadow grip his body tightly and hold Metal. He leaned against the cutter robot and trembled. “Thank you,” Shadow whispered barely audibly to him. 

 

“...Are you alone?” Metal asked quietly. “If you want, you could live with me and my brothers. We live in a pretty big place. We’re planning on turning it into our own little mini-castle. I could cook you food. Wait-- can you eat?” 

 

“T-thank you, but I’m fine.” Shadow spoke softly, but sadly. “I do live alone, but my brothers do visit me sometimes. … …well, almost sometimes.”

 

“How many of your brothers are active?” Metal asked. 

 

“Just two.” Shadow answered. “One of them is a robot called Top Man. He told me he saw you four at a club last week? I, uh, I-I asked him to watch you guys. Well, I asked him and Proto Man both. Because, uh, I-I can’t exactly…--” 

 

“It’s alright, you already told me.” Metal reassured him gently. “...What about the other brother?” 

 

Shadow paused, and tried to hide himself harder in Metal’s neck. “I’d rather not talk about him. I’m sorry…” 

 

“Hey, no need to apologize. It’s okay if you don’t wanna talk about that guy.” Metal reassured him again. He was about to continue when Shadow suddenly pulled himself away from Metal and spoke up, a bit more excitedly. 

 

“However! Speaking of brothers… may I ask why you wanted to recover your brothers?” 

 

“Well… I was originally the only robot taking part in Dr. Light’s experiment. But the Doctor told me that from now on, I could choose to do whatever I felt like. And I think about after a week in that experiment, I realized that I hated being alone. So I chose to recover and reactivate more of my brothers and my partner. Turns out everyone’s lives have become a lot happier ever since I helped bring them all back together.” 

 

Shadow couldn’t help but smile gently at the explanation and chuckle. “Hehehe. Well, in that case, you’re definitely going to like that ‘something’ I have.” He teased, standing up. 

 

“Oh? What’s in store for me, hm?” Metal asked, smiling wider. 

 

Shadow weakly stumbled over to the messy desk, and slowly sifted through all the clutter and the drawers until he spotted what he was looking for. He then pulled it out. In his bloodstained, navy hands was a manila folder with many sticky notes and paper clips sticking out of it. Metal scrutinized the folder carefully, before his eyes widened big. There was the infamous insignia and artistic signature of Dr. Wily stamped onto the corner of that folder. “I found this years ago when I was searching in your generation’s Wily Castle. It was the only salvageable one, ironically enough. Have you recovered your brother Bubble Man yet?” 

 

Instantly, Metal’s receptor extensions pointed straight up and his eyes widened huge. He was immediately at Shadow’s side. “NO?!” He said excitedly, and tried to reach for the manila folder, but Shadow pulled it back. Metal lifted an eyebrow. “Oh?” He asked. 

 

“This is a paper copy of general information about him I found in Dr. Wily’s laboratory. Unfortunately, though, he kept more of the data about all of you on his computers, seemingly, than in paper. Fortunately, I did find the teleportation coordinates to his station in here.” Shadow explained. “...But…” 

 

“But…?” Metal repeated, looking between him and the manila folder. Shadow hesitated and bit his lip lightly. “Look, if you think I’m not going to talk to you after getting the coordinates, I will go out of my way to make sure that not just me, but my entire family gets to know yours--” 

 

“N-no! It’s not that! It’s just…” Shadow trailed off, and looked at Metal. He set the folder down on the desk and tapped it lightly. Something clicked in the cutter robot’s CPU. 

 

“Oh, I get it. Comes with a price, huh? Name it. I can give you almost anything.” Metal said rather confidently. If it was money or material possessions, they had Flash to get as much as they needed. If it was kindness, they had Crash. A fun time? He didn’t even doubt Quick. And he himself was ready to give away almost ANYTHING in the name of recovering another one of his brothers. 

 

“Equal exchange perhaps?” Shadow offered. 

 

“What do you mean by that?” Metal asked. “...Do you mean a brother for a brother? A robot for a robot? I don’t really know if I’m willing to part with any of my brothers, Shadow. I can’t trade any of them, even if I get Bubble in retu--”

 

“No! That’s not what I meant!” Shadow yelled, before he searched the mess of papers and folders on the desk again. This time, he pulled out a smaller piece of paper. It looked like it’s experienced some wear and tear… He held it up to Metal. Numbers were hastily scribbled on there. It looked like more teleportation coordinates. “Proto Man found this for me last year. It’s the coordinates to one of my own brothers’ stations. I’ve been wanting to do what you’ve been doing myself. But… I… I can’t get to him myself. And my two active brothers… I guess they must be tired of listening to me try to so hard to bring everyone together or piece clues together about Wily, or maybe they’re tired of me in general. They didn’t want to go get him.” 

 

“Those pieces of scrap…!” Metal huffed. “After all the shit you’ve been through, too. And Proto Man won’t help you?” 

 

“He’s already gone through so much trouble just to get these coordinates to me…” Shadow muttered, looking away. “It would be selfish and rude to ask him to do any more…” 

 

“So you’re trusting second generation Robot Masters you’ve never met before to do it, okay, hahaha~” Metal couldn’t help but chuckle at the idea. He had to admit that by now, he and Crash were fairly experienced and maybe even decent at recovering fallen Robot Masters by now. “So who are we recovering for you? What’s his name?” 

 

“Snake Man.” Shadow answered. “He was stationed in a secret base within the heart of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.” 

 

“That sounds fun,” Metal cooed, smiling at him. 

 

“R-really? Oh thank god.” Shadow sighed in relief. “Thank you… t-thank you so much! Oh, FINALLY!” He reached for Metal’s singular functioning hand, but he pulled it away in time. Shadow gave him a confused look. 

 

“Hold on now. You’ve got a price to pay for, too. I’ll get your Snake Man… but in return…” Metal paused dramatically, and then held up his working hand. “Not only do you give me those coordinates AND the folder, but you also come with us and get that programming removed out of yourself. You become a part of the experiment we’re in.” 

 

Shadow stared at Metal’s hand, and then at Metal, and then his hand again. “It sounds good and fine, but… why do you want me to be in your experiment?” He was hesitating again, and kept his hands at his sides. 

 

Metal’s mask reappeared on his face just before he smirked widely to himself. “Well, it’s not as much as something that I want, but more of something that I think you need. If you could make your own decisions for yourself, you won’t have to live here in this creepy, miserable dump.” He said. “You could do whatever your core feels like doing. That means that you would be able to finally relax. Well, you and Snake Man both.” He then winked for good measure. Shadow stared at Metal, watching as Metal held out his only functioning hand. His scarlet eyes hesitantly looked between the hand and its owner, before closing. He then grabbed at Metal’s hand and shook it slowly. 

 

“Deal.” Shadow said. 

 

“Remember these words and what I said, okay? You won’t regret it, even if it doesn’t make sense right now.” 

 

The navy Robot Master opened his eyes and smiled at Metal. “...Thank you. Sincerely, from my core. R-really. T-thank you, thank you, th--” He stuttered happily, only to get Metal. He couldn’t help but feel nothing but sheer gratitude pour out of his system and core. He hasn’t felt this happy and relieved in… i-in years, actually. 

 

“I get it, I get it.” Metal said, releasing the handshake and holding said hand out still. Shadow gave him the tiny slip of paper and Metal took it and never let go. “Also, by the way,” Metal continued, before gesturing to his immobile, limp arm, “When’s, uh, this getting fixed? I still can’t exactly move it.” 

 

“Oh, that? You, uh… should probably go see Dr. Light about that, actually.” Shadow said. “It’s not going to go away on its own. M-my apologies.” 

 

“No no, it’s fine!” Metal said, holding up his hand again. “I’m still learning about your weapon… and you, and your generation in general. I probably know even less about you guys than you know about my generation.” 

 

“W-well, is there anything else you need to know?” Shadow asked. 

 

“Not anything that I can think of right now though. But thank you. I’m glad I got to meet you and kick your ass today. If anything,” Metal suddenly smiled widely behind his mask, “you could say that I finally got to meet the man who’s behind all of this… _-shady-_ stalking business.” He cracked, grinning widely. 

 

Shadow’s mouth contorted, before he began to snicker and laugh loudly. “I-I wouldn’t say kicked my ass! But you certainly had the… upper _hand_ in battle! Your skills really have an… _edge_ to them! Kehehehehehehe~!” He punned back at him. 

 

Metal then exploded into giggles, grinning widely. “Kekekekehehehehe~! H-hey now… I’m not that great! I only won after I…” His mask retracted for a moment and he grinned widely. _“...saw_ through your trick! PFFTHHHAHEHEHEHAHAHAHA!” 

 

At that point, Metal and Shadow had both erupted into laughter in the small office. “Oh, I like you already.” Metal giggled. He held onto the coordinates tightly in his functional hand and he waved bye to Shadow. “I’m leaving this place for real now. Take it easy, Shadow, okay?” 

 

“You too, Metal.” Shadow chirped back. Metal Man soon exited the small building and the moment he did, Shadow felt his legs want to give out badly. He hastily made his way over to the couch and he collapsed against it, laying on his back. Despite the harsh trembling of his legs from all of the wires that and joints that still needed time to recover after being destroyed via Metal Blade, Shadow couldn’t care less about his own body’s health. He smiled widely to himself, wringing his bloodstained hands in his softer scarf. His core felt like it was going to explode in the best way possible. That… went along so much better than he thought it was going to, and he felt so euphoric right then because… because…! Shadow giddily grinned.

~~~~~

Metal sighed. Well, that went surprisingly much better than he thought it would’ve. And to think he thought it was going to be some horrible thing like an ambush or a kidnapping… He shook his head and smiled to himself. He should’ve listened to the others more.

 

He slowly made his way through the scrapyard clearing, but not before picking up one of the forgotten Shadow Blades that jutted out of the ground. He then made his way out of the scrapyard, standing back at the entrance where his family dropped him off. Right. His brothers. Boy, did he have a lot to explain… He looked down at the piece of paper and Shadow Blade he held in his hand, rereading the coordinates again. Snake Man, huh? He should’ve asked Shadow more questions about his brethren before leaving. Or at least about the Third War. 

 

Well, actually… maybe Dr. Light and Megaman can answer my questions, Metal thought, glancing at his limp arm. He placed his useful hand on his hip and closed his eyes. It may seem like on the outside, Metal did nothing, however, internally, he was accessing multiple files and functions within his CPU matrix. Less than seconds later, he found what he was looking for: the S.O.S. signal he rarely used in his short lifespan. And then he spammed it. 

 

… 

 

Less than ten minutes later, the black car that Metal’s become familiar with raced down the road and screeched to a halt in front of him. “What’s up?” Metal aloofly chimed and waved. 

 

Quick and Crash rolled down their windows and the both of them and Flash immediately yelled. “Are you okay?!” Crash followed up. “M-Metal, did you get hurt?! What happened?!” 

 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. My left arm just doesn’t work. We, uh, w-we gotta go to Dr. Light’s laboratory again. Sorry about that…” Metal said casually. 

 

“No, no! It’s fine! Get in here!” Crash said, pushing open the car door somehow. Metal climbed in as best as he could and immediately threw himself into Crash, who held him as best as he could in his embrace. “I’m just happy you made it out in one piece!”

 

“Metal, can I ask what the hell’s in your hand?” Flash asked, eyeing the Shadow Blade. 

 

“It’s the weapon that fucked up my arm. Well, there’s that, and I’ve got coordinates, too.” 

 

“Coordinates?!” Everyone said in surprise and curiosity, before their eyes lit up excitedly. 

 

“You mean…?!” Flash gasped, before grinning. 

 

“H-hold on, hold on! It’s… uh… l-let me explain what happened first. It’s a lot.” Metal said, flipping himself over so he could lay in Crash’s arms. He got comfortable and relaxed, before retracting his mask and opening his mouth to speak. “So the guy who was stalking us wasn’t actually…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's that! Adventure waits on the horizon! :D 
> 
> What do you guys think? :D Whilst I did have fun writing this, I also struggled to write this as well... I want to try harder with the next chapter, and hopefully, school and drawing won't cut too much into it. But now Pokemon's out, too... Goodbye hours of my life, hahahaha. :D 
> 
> Please comment and tell me your thoughts! Until next time, everyone! :)


	13. The Serpent's Lair (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M ALIVE HGHGHGHHH  
> School didn't kick my ass at all!! I passed all my classes!! :D  
> (Now I have to scramble to get a cosplay done for MAGFest soon haha OOPS) 
> 
> It's been 3,000 yea-- I MEAN UH, hey everybody!! How's all of you doing?! How's winter break (or just December) been? :D This chapter is a long one, and one that I've been looking forward to for a while now! I really do hope that you guys have fun with this one! This chapter might not be quite what you expect, hehe~! Anyways, consider this a present from me and happy holidays! :D Enjoy~!

Amongst a barren, wasted city, a black car drove through its borders, into the near boondocks, and soon enough, the forest that covered the land around it. Within the car, one robot rested against his partner, telling the other three of the encounter he just experienced. 

“Wait, wait, wait, so I’m just going over this again,” Flash said, peeking at Metal through the rearview mirror, “You met a Robot Master from the Third War, who was actually the one stalking us, except two other Robot Masters were also spying on us, too? W-what were the names again? Shadow Man, Top Man, and… uh…” 

“Proto Man.” Quick answered for him, mouth set in a firm line. Also known as Blues, he thought to himself. To think that the robot that he was curious about for so long ended up getting knocked in the head with his boomerang… Quick shook his head to himself. His mouth ended up contorting upwards at the thought, and he suppressed a chuckle. It wasn’t quite justice delivered or anything like that, but he just felt a little better about himself whenever he thought about it. 

Flash shot Quick a glance from the corner of his eye to check on him for a split-second, concerned before speaking up. “Thank you,” Flash said, “So Shadow Man has coordinates to Bubble’s station, but he agreed to give it to us only if we recover one of his brethren? As in, go to his station and get him?” 

“Yeah, that’s what we decided on.” Metal confirmed, relaxing in Crash’s arms. His only functional hand rested against one of the drills that hugged him. Said drillbot was comfortable holding Metal while quietly listening to his conversation. 

“Honestly, if I were you, I’d just have taken the coordinates and ran,” Quick said. “I mean, you already beat him up, what could he have done?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I know I beat the hell out of him. But his weapon kind of really unnerves me. I didn’t want to turn my back to him unless we were both satisfied and okay.” Metal explained. “I don’t know if it just disabled my body’s functions or broke it somehow on the inside, but I can’t feel or move a thing in my arm…” He paused, looking down at his immobile and limp left arm, but then almost immediately added afterward, “...Okay, well, that, and I kinda felt bad for him, too. I mean, he lives in a dump. And on top of that, he’s stuck there because of Dr. Wily. Maybe if I reached out to him, we’d both be happier in the end, ya know? The third generation of Robot Masters basically got thrown away just like we did…” 

Quick smirked to himself as he leaned back into his seat. “That’s awfully kind of you, Metal. Are you sure you’re the right punning, rusty scraphead I know and not some copy robot or something?” He joked. 

“Rusty?!” Metal couldn’t help but faintly blush at his comment. “I’m not that old yet, y-ya piece of scrap!” He barked at the speedy robot, who giggled loudly at the cutter robot. He blushed harder and relaxed against Crash a little more. “Listen, I couldn’t care less about most robots. But Wilybots? We gotta stick together. And even though we don’t know the third generation, aren’t they going through the same shit we are? I know from, uh… experience, that dealing with it by yourself is a hell of its own.” He paused for a moment, restating what he just said in his mind, before exhaling softly. “You’re right, though. Maybe I’ve spent too much time around those Lightbots and they rubbed off on me.” 

“Nah,” Crash shook his head behind him and objected, “I think you’ve always been nice. To robots that matter to you, I mean.” He smiled warmly. “You went out of your way to help me when you barely knew me, and the same for Flash, too. It’s kind of inspiring, actually.” 

Metal adjusted himself and craned his head to look at Crash with wide eyes and a small look of disbelief. “Really? You think so?” 

Crash’s smile widened. “Well, yeah, of course! It makes me wanna do the same and make you even happier, too, you know… Well… Then again, there’s that, but you’re also really cute when you’re happy, too~.” He cooed at the cutter robot, which only made his blush deepen. 

“Craaash…,” Metal whined softly, gently nuzzling his head against Crash’s. “I wouldn’t be talking if I were you… Not when you’re the most adorable guy in the whole world~,” He cooed at him, his voice low and quiet. Now it was Crash’s turn to blush red, and the drillbot ended up smiling widely at Metal, causing his core to race and whir softly. Crash hugged him tighter, and Metal let out a small hum of content, smiling behind his mask. 

The burgundy Robot Master shifted again, and then a few more times, before he found it too uncomfortable to be facing away from his love. He tried his best to turn around so he was facing the orange Robot Master he loved and sat in his lap. He watched Crash’s verdant green eyes light up and come to life like sunshine. “Oh hey,” Said drillbot softly purred, smiling widely. Metal’s own face brightened considerably and without hesitation, his mask retracted into the recesses of the sides of his helm. 

“Hey,” Metal purred back at him, returning a playful smile to Crash, before lifting his functional arm to cup Crash’s helmeted cheek in his hand. His ruby red eyes flitted over Crash’s face while his mind searched his databanks for something incredibly cheesy and romantic to spew at him, but unfortunately he came up empty-handed. Perhaps it was just looking at Crash’s smile that left him speechless… So instead, he ended up leaning forward ever so slightly, tilting his head. It felt unbearable to Crash; to watch Metal lean in to kiss him, because it almost felt like it was in slow motion. He began to lean forward as well to speed things up… 

Quick and Flash didn’t comment on the lovebots in the backseat, but they both were thinking very similar thoughts upon glancing at them, and then glancing at each other. Quick’s foot began to tap impatiently and Flash’s fingers drummed against the steering wheel he gripped. God, did they want to kiss each other like that. And hold and cuddle each other. And do much, much more. However, preferably when they were alone together. But… Flash frowned. When were they going to have that alone time? He wondered. The four of them were almost always together, and whilst that in itself was a comforting, nice feeling, it came with its downsides, too. Like it being rather tricky for Quick and Flash to get proper privacy to themselves to do whatever they felt like together. Metal did mention before they went and got Quick that he and Crash wanted to turn the warehouse into a ‘castle’ of sorts. He did draw up blueprints, but to actually build the walls and rooms, and then to install things like lighting and electricity and water, and then to get enough furniture… His mouth pursed. All of that has to cost a ton of money… He could assume that Dr. Light probably doesn’t have that kind of money to fork over anyways. 

Then again, they could always research and do all of that on their own with what materials they can ‘find.’ But that sounded like a lot of unnecessary work to him. Maybe they could hire someone? Was there somebody out there who was reliable and could easily build something like their mini-castle in a short time? He knew Quick only had so much patience… 

Perhaps Dr. Light has the answer to that, the temporal robot thought to himself, driving down the country road and snaking his way around the mountain and their new training grounds. It didn’t take long for the quartet to reach said doctor’s house and laboratory and this time they parked just right in the driveway. Metal reluctantly pulled himself away from Crash and filed out of the car with Quick and Flash. The four stood at the front door and as per usual, Metal rang the doorbell multiple times consecutively. 

“Come in, boys, it’s unlocked!” Roll’s voice sounded from within the house. Without any hesitation, Quick pushed open the door widely and immediately walked in, his brothers following. The first thing they were met with was the sight of Rock and Dr. Light playing some sort of intricate card game on the living room table. Roll herself was vacuuming the floor. 

“Heya Doc, Roll, Pain-In-My-Ass, how’ve all of ya been? Didja miss us?” Quick cooed and waved hi, leaning over the sofa. 

“Hiya everyone!” Crash chirped. 

“Hey,” Flash and Metal greeted. 

Rock gave Quick a look before saying, “Hey guys. We’ve been good. Did you need something this time?” 

“Yeah, as usual. So we’ve got a question for ya.” Quick said. But before he could pull out the piece of paper that had Snake Man’s station’s coordinates on it, Metal had calmly sauntered over to the table and firmly put down the Shadow Blade on top of it, promptly messing up the order of cards and knocking over the remainder of the playing card deck. 

“Would you mind telling us who the hell Shadow Man is?” Metal asked. Rock was about to object and give Metal a dirty look, but instead he had laid optics on the Shadow Blade, processing what he was looking at for a second before said optics turned huge with surprise. 

He looked up at Metal. “Shadow Man is active?” He asked in surprised disbelief. 

“The third generation robots are active…?” Light breathed to himself, eyes widening. “When did you find this out? Where are they? Who reactivated them?” He asked Metal, looking at him with something that almost looked melancholic yet desperate. But then his eyebrows furrowed. “Have you encountered Dr. Wily?” 

Metal shook his head no. “Few hours ago. And nah, I didn’t see or talk with our former master. It was just Shadow Man. Anyways, details about him don’t really matter right since, uh… I struck up a deal with him and um… I… might’ve asked him to join our experiment if everything works out?” Metal asked, faltering towards the latter half of that statement and finishing it, awkwardly smiling behind his mask. The sickly doctor blinked at him, quiet. Metal could feel both his and Megaman’s gazes on him and a part of him wanted to shrink in on himself, as if he did something wrong. “I-I’m sorry if uh… I’m really pushing it or I crossed some kind of line in the experiment.” He added quietly. 

“Wha…” Doctor Light began, before composing himself and offering the cutting robot a wide smile. “No, no, there’s no need to apologize. In fact, I would be very happy to see him once again! I do not mind at all.” 

“Why would you be happy to see him?” Crash asked, leaning over the sofa as well. He scoffed. “Don’t tell me, he’s a Lightbot, isn’t he?” 

“Well, uh, actually…” Rock began. 

“W-wait, I was just joking! He’s actually a Lightbot?!” Crash said, eyes widening. 

“That definitely can’t be right,” Flash interjected. “If that were the case, he would’ve been recovered by Megaman and working as a Lightbot by now.” 

“Well, uh…” 

“The third generation Robot Masters are a bit of a special case,” Dr. Light picked up from Rock. He took out a handkerchief and coughed lightly into it before continuing. “After the Second War… soon after you all were destroyed by Megaman, Dr. Wily had turned over a new leaf and began working for the sake of good. He and I collaborated on a large-scale project together and built the seven third generation Robot Masters together. I could’ve sworn… I-I truly did believe him at the time that he was genuinely good then, but after seeing our project almost completed, he wanted the robot for himself and he used it for evil…” Dr. Light sighed. What a fool he was! Why did he believe him then? But then again… he couldn’t have predicted something like that at the time, not when Wily has never before pretended to be good under his nose then. 

“Was Shadow Man that robot?” Flash asked curiously, having walked over to the couch and hopping over it so he could sit in it. Crash soon followed suit and sat next to him. “The large project, I mean.” 

“Oh, no, no!” Light said, before reaching down to grab a lukewarm cup of that awful tea he loves so much. “The robot we were building was much larger than him. A huge robot that was capable of protecting the world and establishing peace… The robot’s name was Gamma, and that robot was my lifelong dream.” 

“Ouch. That blows. I think I’m actually sorry that he put ya through that crap.” Quick said. “But wait…” He crossed his arms. “You said seven robots, not counting Gamma. Where’s the eighth Robot Master then?” 

“Dr. Wily and I collaborated on building seven Robot Masters, but we had found Shadow Man instead, we never built him. Dr. Wily handled modifications so that he could function and work just fine, but… by the time he was completed, it was only a few days before he kidnapped our creations and reprogrammed them. I don’t know who originally built him, but I’ve heard that he’s rather unique with both his design and his capabilities. I wish I could’ve gotten to know him as well as I knew his adoptive brothers.” Light explained, a slight hint of melancholy in his voice. His fingers idly pulled at his handkerchief in his hands. 

“Tell us about the rest of his brothers.” Metal said. “My encounter with him… uh… I didn’t get a whole lot of information out of him about the others. Just coordinates and a broken arm.” He gestured to his limp arm. “Which, by the way, it wouldn’t be too much to ask for repairs, would it, Doctor?” 

“Not at all.” Light said, smiling and slowly standing up. He suppressed another cough before beckoning the cutter robot. “We can take care of that right now.” He said, before beginning to head to the lab. Metal followed him without hesitation. 

“See ya guys in a bit.” He said, giving a small wave with his working hand. 

“The other Robot Masters…” Rock began. “It’s been a while, give me a second…” 

“Oh, it hasn’t been THAT long!” Roll interjected, long having finished the vacuuming and now had a tray of tea and biscuits in her hands. “It’s only been four years! Would anyone like tea, by the way?” Flash and Crash immediately shied away and politely declined the tea, but Quick, unknowing of his own fate, grabbed a cup. 

“Oh yeah, it’s only been four whole years!” Rock objected sarcastically. “By now, it’s starting to become difficult to remember how many wars I’ve actually been in, let alone remember which Robot Master is from which. I remember your generation well because you were the first Wilybots I fought but afterwards? I really hate to admit it, but after going through technically nine official wars, but actually, uh… more than nine, it starts to become just a little difficult to distinguish Cold Man from Blizzard Man from Freeze Man from Frost Man and all the wars they were a part of. Or Spark Man from Dynamo Man from uh… I know there was another one, o-or Dive Man from Wave Man from Aqua Man, or Ground Man from Drill Man--” 

“THERE’S A DRILL MAN?” Crash suddenly asked, eyes wide and starry. He leaned forward, eyes trained solely on Megaman. “WHAT’S HE LIKE?!” He more or less demanded rather than asked. 

“Drill Man…?” Rock said, leaning back a bit from Crash’s overexcitement. “He’s, uh… quite similar to you, actually. And uh… he likes to dig. A lot.” 

“I like this guy already! I want to meet him!” Crash chirped enthusiastically. 

“I’m sorry, but I really doubt that you ever will…” Rock said. 

“Ya know if you say that, it’s just gonna motivate us more to actually meet him.” Quick stated, before taking a large sip of his tea. Immediately upon the strong taste settling on his robotic tongue, the speedy robot’s face contorted and he used every last byte of his willpower to not spit it out and instead swallow it regrettably. It would’ve been funny to spittake in Megaman’s face, but he knew better when Roll was around. He barely knew her, but she just exudes this air of authority around her, and after hearing from Metal that she defeated Crash Man with nothing but a broom, he wasn’t going to upset her anytime this century. 

Rock shot Quick a glance before smirking to himself. _Serves him right._ “But anyways, the third generat--” 

“The third generation of Robot Masters! I remember them clearly too, and since Rock is an old man, I’ll go over them.” Roll cut in and giggled. 

“Awww, come on!” Rock objected. “I can remember the Third War robots, I swear!” 

“Nope, it’s too late now, I’m already going through them!” Roll said. But before Rock could object, she already began to list them off. “Top Man, Spark Man, Magnet Man, Needle Man, Gemini Man, Hard Man, and Snake Man!” 

“I have a couple of questions,” Flash began, “Like, uh…” 

“HARD MAN?” Quick finished, before grinning and snickering to himself. 

Rock began to faintly blush. “I-I don’t know why he was named that! His body is just really hard!” 

“Really now? Tell me more,” Quick said before breaking out into giggles. Flash looked at him. 

“Quick. Quick, I know what you’re thinking,” Flash said, as his own mouth contorted upwards and began grinning. “Y-you stop that.” 

“Never!” Quick barked. “Besides, you think it’s funny, too!” 

“I-I know!” Flash began to giggle alongside him. Crash just blinked confusedly and Rock rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly. Maybe he was an old man after all. 

“Come on guys, it’s not that funny--” 

“HARD Man. J-just let that sink in. HARD MAN. Wielding the…” Quick’s eyes suddenly widened and he sprang to life. “Holy crap, PLEASE, tell us what his weapon is!” 

Rock sighed in defeat. “The Hard Knuckle…” 

“THE HARD KNUCKLE--” Quick nearly choked out before both he and Flash exploded into guffaws. Quick fell over the couch facefirst and landed ungracefully on top of Flash amongst their hysterical laughter. 

“I don’t get it.” Crash said. 

Flash clutched his stomach and lifted a hand up for Crash. “W-we’ll tell you later! O-oh-ho god!” 

Rock decided to ignore what crude and inappropriate gestures Quick was making at Flash and turned to Crash instead. “Are there any other Robot Masters you need to know about? BESIDES Hard Man?” 

“Not exactly. … …Wait, yes actually! Tell me about Snake Man. He’s the important one. What’s he look like?” Crash asked. 

“Snake Man? Well, he’s white and green, and has a pretty obvious snake design motif--” 

“YEAH, NO SHIT MEGAMAN.” Quick barked, calming down. “Is he tall? Tiny? What’s his helmet like? Does he have no hands? Does he have a head?” 

Rock gave Quick another look. “He’s normal sized, but really thin. He’s got a helmet like Flash Man’s, but it looks like a snake head, and then it extends all the way out like -this- long,” Rock emphasized the length by spreading his arms out. “Like a snake tail. And he has a buster arm that looks like a snake, too. Why do you guys wanna know about what he looks like?” 

“Let’s just say we’re doing Shadow Man a favor for him.” Quick answered. “Which brings up another question we wanted to ask ya.”

~~~~~

“By any chance, have you fixed your teleporter yet?” Metal finished, trying to stay as still as possible. Dr. Light shifted the position of the tools within Metal’s shoulder and tweaked at another wire. The burgundy robot still couldn’t get used to the feeling of the sickly doctor’s tools and hands inside his body and it made him quite uncomfortable. He looked away from the doctor.

“Ah, I’m very sorry.” Dr. Light answered, “We haven’t found the time recently to get all the remaining parts necessary to fix it. I’ve been considering requesting Ice Man to come home so we’d have somebody ready to get the remaining parts with Rock. I’m going to assume that you have more coordinates to another Robot Master’s station?” 

“Yeah. We’ve gotta head to Brazil to recover Snake Man. We’re doing a favor for Shadow Man because he’s got coordinates to one of our own brother’s stations.” Metal explained, never looking in Dr. Light’s direction. He flinched and hissed as a particular wire was suddenly cut with wire cutters. 

“My apologies. This wire needs a replacement.” Light said sheepishly, before walking over to a particularly large container by the rest of the storage units. He sifted through various wires. “That sounds rather exciting.” He returned and disconnected the remainder of the wire within Metal’s arm, causing him to shift uncomfortably again, before carefully inserting and replacing it with a new wire he picked out. “I can’t teleport you four, but do you know where exactly in Brazil you have to be?” 

“I can’t say for certain, but we have to be in the heart of the Amazon forest.” Metal said, before remembering something. “Wait. Quick has the coordinates themselves, so can’t we just check that?” 

“Certainly!” Dr. Light confirmed, before re-checking everything in his arm. “Can you try to move your fingers and hand?” 

Metal looked down at his hand and to his relief, he stretched and curled his fingers with ease. The same went for his hand and wrist. He lifted his arm up and tested it, bending and winding it, and thankfully everything worked. “Everything works fine. My systems aren’t detecting any issue anymore either.” Dr. Light then closed the hatch in his shoulder. “Thank you, Doctor. Sincerely.” He got off of one of the operating tables. “I’m beginning to really dislike having to ask you for so much, but would it be too much trouble if we could fly out there instead?” He asked. 

“It’s not an issue, don’t worry. That teleporter probably wasn’t going to get fixed anytime soon in the next few days either way.” Light resigned, before looking down and going quiet. Metal waited for him to continue, and eventually he heard the doctor sigh. “However, after this mission, I believe I’m going to be quite short on money to give to you and your brethren.” 

“I understand completely. Still, thank you for helping us so much.” Metal said politely. “Is there a particular reason why, though?” 

Dr. Light let out a heavy sigh and wringed his hands together again. He turned around and looked at Metal. The cutter robot could tell from the look on his face that the reason was definitely bad. “After my most recent diagnosis from my many doctor’s appointments, I have no choice but to get a major surgery in the next week. It’s a bit of an emergency due to my current condition. I’m… not looking forward to it.” 

“Oh… I’m sorry.” Metal said quietly, looking for the right words to say after that. He hesitated and thought carefully. “But isn’t surgery like… repairs in a way? Once you get it done and over with, you’ll recover and feel much better after that. …R-right?” 

“You’re right, but I’m just worried and a little upset regardless. I’m going to have so many projects to catch up on afterwards. And this is only going to worry Rock and Roll…” 

“Your children worrying for you is something you’re gonna have to deal with regardless of whether you have the surgery or not. And they’re probably going to make you take a break from your projects regardless.” 

“I know they will.” Dr. Light said. He then moved over towards the main computer monitor, which was now fully repaired, and grabbed for his cell phone on the great keyboard. “Also, unrelated to this conversation, but if you’re going to be flying out of the country again, I’m afraid I won’t be able to let you borrow my cell phone again.” Metal stiffened at the mention of the phone, vividly remembering him and Crash stealing it when they left to go recover Flash’s body. Dr. Light stuffed it into his lab coat pocket. “However, I have an alternate plan should you and your brothers need to contact me outside of the country.” 

He turned to the monitor and clicked a few files before typing in a few passwords. Metal never realized before then just how many files Dr. Light kept private and password-protected, as well as how many files he had on himself and his family. Soon, on the large screen popped up what look like blueprints for a very old project. “I used this very setup for Megaman after the First War. I can install a feature within your CPU that will allow you to contact me directly from anywhere in the world. If you’d like to try it out, that is.” 

“O-of course!” Metal said, optics glazing up and down the blueprints. He was confident… that he had no idea what he was looking at. “How do we use it?” 

“Well, it depends on whether you want to contact me through voice transmission or text-based communication. What do you prefer?” 

“Uh… c-can we use this feature between ourselves?” Metal asked curiously. 

“Well… I could always tweak it so you can! That way you could stay in contact with your family even if you are far apart from one another.” Light explained. 

“Text-based then, please.” It’s quieter and would probably work faster than a voice transmission, Metal thought. 

“Splendid! I’ll get to work right away on a new version. It may take about half an hour at most.” Dr. Light said, before facing his monitor again. His hands rested on the keyboard for only a moment, like that of a grand pianist, before pattering away at the new file opened on the screen. Metal took that as his cue to turn around and head back upstairs to check on his brethren. 

Once the elevator door fully closed, the old doctor waited for a moment, before pausing his typing and adding of new lines of coding into the feature. He then pulled out his cell phone once again, and flipped through the contacts. However, it didn’t take long for him to find the person he was looking. He clicked the contact ‘Pedro Astil’, and hit the Message button. Light’s fingers pattered away against the tiny keyboard on the phone. 

[Would you be able to talk today? I have some news for you.] 

Light hit the ‘Send’ Button.

~~~~~

Crash and Metal couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of déjà vécu.

Yet again, nothing has changed from the last time that they visited the airport. They all still passed the body-scanning tests without any suspicion on them that they possess dangerous weaponry. All they had to do was say that they all were specialized worker Lightbots and just like that, everything went cringingly smooth. Metal rested a metallic hand against the Metal Blade on his forehead and guided Crash into the airplane they had to board. Quick and Flash followed them in, but unfortunately, the two pairs had to sit a couple of rows away from each other due to crowded seating. 

Metal sighed. Humans are still pretty stupid. 

At least to the burgundy robot, the airplane flight this time had gone much more smoothly than the flight to Scotland went. Or so he had thought in the beginning. He made sure to sit next to the window this time so that Crash wouldn’t panic and lose his composure and complete grasp on logic. Meanwhile, Quick could not get enough of the window seat and was blabbing rather excitedly, and loudly, over the view. It was so amazing to him to see the world from so high up that he couldn’t stop gushing to Flash. Eventually, one of the humans became rather fed up with Quick and yelled at him to shut up and called him a loud prick. Quick’s only response was, “Whatever, loser. I can’t hear you over how awesome this window seat is.” Push came to shove and a fight had almost broken out on the plane if not for the intimidating, threatening gazes the human had received from both Flash and Metal. The human sat back down faster than he’s ever had before. 

“Quick, I know you’re excited about flying, but I don’t think we should really be attracting much attention to ourselves.” Flash gently said in a hushed tone. Quick’s eyes were practically glued to the window, but still nodded in recognition. 

“Well, it’s not just flying,” Quick said, incapable of whispering or speaking in a hushed tone right then, “It’s also that we’re travelling the world, too. We get to go see another country! I mean… you already were in another country, but that was because of your station. This time, we can do whatever we want to!” Flash raised an eyebrow at him curiously. “I know we’ve got a mission but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun, too.” 

“Hmmmm… you’re right.” Flash said quietly, smiling a little. “I’m certain we can find time in between our mission for a little bit of fun~. What kind do you have in mind?” 

Quick opened his mouth but paused. He shot his head up and looked over the rows of seats, gazing over the sea of human heads of hair that peeked from the airplane’s seats. He sat back down and crossed his arms, pouting. He closed his eyes and searched through the multitude of functionality files and programs within his CPU until he reached what he was looking for. The new feature installed in him a few days ago that allows him and his family to silently communicate with one another. He accessed it, therefore ‘logging in’, and then paused. He carefully thought about what he wanted to say, and… it was as though he were in front of an invisible keyboard, forming the sentence from within his head. Or at least within his head, it looked like a chatroom of sorts. 

[Qu: Well, sightseeing’s a given. I heard Brazil’s a beautiful country.] 

Next to him, Flash blinked in surprise as what he could only describe as a notification popped up within his CPU. He accessed it, read Quick’s silent message, before focusing on a reply of his own. 

[Fl: Oooh, that sounds nice.] 

Quick grinned to himself and quietly relaxed into his chair. 

[Qu: Haha, oh yeah. Between the monuments, the mountains and forests, the beaches. Actually, you’ll see for yourself once we get close.] 

[Fl: Now you’re starting to make me regret not bringing the camera. Haha.] 

[Qu: I’m pretty sure once we land, we can get one of those crappy disposable cameras. Also, if we end up spending multiple days here, we could spend the nights together, and you know what’s coming up soon?] 

[Fl: Uh, November?] 

Silence filled the space between them. Flash’s eyes were closed, but he could still feel Quick boring his eyes into him. 

[Fl: I know, I know, I was just messing with you. You and Crash’s builtdays are coming up.] 

[Qu: Hell yeah! And since we’re all poor as scrap, I’ve got a couple of rather creative ideas at for uh some ways to spend mine at least. Wink wink.] 

[Fl: Are you winking at me via text???] 

[Qu: Maybe. Suggestive wink.] 

[Me: You know, if you two are going to discuss all the different ways you want to have ‘the sexy,’ I’d suggest writing it down or going back to almost-whispering.] 

[Qu: Oh god he can read our shit.] 

[Me: Yeah, no shit. Anybody who’s ‘logged in’ to this feature can read what’s up. That’s what the Doctor explained to all of us not even a week ago.] 

[Qu: Get the hell off of here then! I’ve got private business to talk to Flashy about!] 

[Me: Haha, make me.] 

[Qu: YOU SUCK, METAL. At least Crash isn’t a pain and isn’t on here. Right?] 

[Cr: Aghaslidfjwenvnslhlksdf] 

“Oh, god damnit!” Quick quietly said, before he let out a soft groan amongst the peaceful yet stuffy quiet that was the airplane. Sounds of quiet giggling immediately burst forth from Metal, Flash, and Crash. 

[Qu: How the hell did you write that in your head, anyways?] 

[Cr: It took me 5 minutes, hahaha.] 

Quick crossed his arms and opened his eyes. He let out a soft sigh of defeat and ‘logged out’ of the long-distance communication feature. He’ll have to tell Flash his ideas once they land, or maybe after the mission. However, he eventually couldn’t help but smile a little himself. Especially when he looked at Flash and god, did he look cute when he giggled. 

Their eyes soon met and Quick’s smile widened. His lips parted and he spoke quietly for once. “I’ve gotta admit. While that new feature of ours is pretty handy, I don’t think what I was going to say would’ve been done any justice if it was just text and not spoken with my sexy voice. That, and any kind of compliment I feel like givin’ ya your way~.” 

“I think you’re right,” Flash smiled widely and murred at him. “I do love hearing your sexy voice.” 

“Psssh, please.” Quick scoffed quietly, before purring at him. “My voice might be sexy, but it doesn’t compare to your gorgeous deep voice. Hell, it gives me chills half of the time. The good kind of chills.” 

Flash lifted an eyebrow, before a playful smirk grew on his face. “Oh, really?” He leaned closer to Quick until his mouth was inches away from his audio receptor and he purred in a much lower and silkier voice. “You mean this kind~? Would you like good chills for your builtday, hm~?” He leaned back and curiously watched Quick shudder harshly, before his cheeks turned as red as the rest of his helmet and armor. The scarlet Robot Master then whipped around and faced his blue partner with an indescribable expression. 

“Flashy.” Quick purred, eye focused on him and sharp. “Hell freaking yeah I want those. And maybe even--” His head whipped to the informative LED banner next to the exit sign on the wall. “Uh, when did we get in the plane?” 

“Three hours and 23 minutes ago. We’ve still got a little under six hours left to go until we reach the Jungle City.” Flash answered. 

“Perfect.” Quick purred, before flashing a handsome smile at his partner. “Wanna distract each other until then~?” Flash’s face was dusted a faint red and his core began to race, as well as tingly feelings throughout his circuits. 

“What kind of distractions are we talking about?” Flash breathed softly. 

“Just kissing and cuddling, unless you think that’s a bit too much--” 

“NOT--. A-at all.” Flash awkwardly stammered, trying to lower his voice. God, did he want more from him, he wanted more from Quick so badly, and he knew that Quick wanted it badly, too. But they have to find some time alone away from everybody else for that first. “I’d really love that. We just have to keep it down, okay…?” He said softly again. 

“Mhm. Soft then?” Quick offered, smiling widely at him.

“Definitely soft.” Flash nodded and blushed pink. The two of them began to lean forward, until almost silently, their lips pressed against one another and softly kissed. Their lips brushed against one another with such tenderness that it sent electric chills throughout the both of their bodies. Their kisses were slow and long, and every now and then, they’d pull away for only a moment, looking into each other’s eyes lovingly. They dove back in every time eagerly, but gently and with so much care. Two metallic hands soon found themselves holding onto their partners’ heads or shoulders, whilst the other pair intertwined their fingers in each other. 

They parted again and the scarlet robot barely audibly murmured ‘Love you’ towards his blue partner. Flash’s core did a little flip at his words and he purred back ‘Love you too’, before slowly diving back into their loving and silent kisses. 

… 

Metal relaxed in his seat, sinking as far as he could into stiff seat cushions. That he was most likely ripping apart anyways. He didn’t dare touch his literal shoulder blades, though. If he were to detach them, the humans would view that like a weapon and then lose their shit. He looked out the window, but all he saw was darkness and moonlit clouds. Of course, he thought. What the hell was Quick so excited about before then? He looked over at Crash. Said drillbot was closing his eyes and relaxing. 

Hmmm… Metal thought to himself. Quick and Flash have quieted down and Crash looks like he’s just about ready to enter sleep mode. He leaned forward and carefully reached down into the backpack sitting between his legs on the floor. There wasn’t much in the backpack other than what money they had left, what spare clothes they had ‘borrowed’, a map of the city they were going to land in, a couple of E-tanks, and… aha! Metal carefully pulled out the novel he had been diligently cracking into and reading for about a month now. He flipped open to where his alien-robot bookmark was and began to continue off where he had last left off. He was just about ready to begin Chapter 14 when… 

“You take that book everywhere, don’t you?” Crash’s voice quietly cut through both the silence and his concentration. Metal’s eyes darted over to Crash, who was looking at the novel. 

He chuckled. “I can’t help it. Sorry.” 

“Is it really that interesting? I don’t really get what’s so fun about books anyways.” Crash said, brows furrowing. 

“Well, for one thing, you never know how good or bad of a story you’re gonna get into until you start reading it. It’s kinda like a fun little surprise.” Metal said, smiling behind his mask. “Not to mention that if the story’s well-written and detailed, you end up getting immersed into its world. It’s quite nice and rather distracting from anything you’d rather not think about or deal with. It’s why I owned so many back then. I had a little collection in my room in my factory…” He said sheepishly. And then he looked at Crash. “Haven’t you read before?” 

“...Not books, not really, no.” Crash said quietly. “I can’t really read.” 

“You can totally read! You’ve read maps and things on computer monitors before!” 

“No no, I know how to read. I mean, uh, I can’t flip the pages. That’s why I don’t read stuff like books.” Crash explained, looking down at his drills for hands. Just another thing in his life that ended up inaccessible to him because of his damn lack of hands. He felt rather… stupid and pitiful at his inability to read. 

Metal carefully eyed him, frowning, before an idea suddenly hatched into his head. “Would you like to read this book? I don’t mind re-reading it. We can read it together, if you want.” He offered, his hidden smile returning on his face. 

And immediately like that, Crash’s expression brightened considerably. “R-really? You would do that…? It… it wouldn’t bother you, w-would it?” He stammered quietly. 

Metal shook his head. “No, of course not. I mean, I was extremely okay with going over to the city library partially because I thought it was really fun. To me, reading’s fun, so it wouldn’t bother me at all. You’ve got nothing to worry about.” 

“But-b-but Metal,” Crash stuttered on purpose, smiling now, “What happens if the book is boring?” 

“Psssh. PSSSH.” Metal rolled his eyes. “You think I take out _boring_ books? What, that I _like_ boring books? What am I, a _boring_ robot to you or something?” He joked, before pausing and going quiet. “Well, actually… I went to the city library partially because I thought it was really fun. I probably am a boring robot.” 

“Psssh, stop lying.” Crash said smiling. “You’re like, the farthest thing from boring I can think of, really.” 

“Aw… Crash, I’m touched.” Metal cooed, before flipping to the beginning of the book. “You’re the most interesting guy I know, honestly. All the little things you do, and the way you handle everything and how you are with everyone you meet… you’re like sunshine to me.” He purred. 

“Metal, nooo…” Crash whined, despite smiling widely. “My coreee…” 

“I know. Mine too.” Metal said softly back to Crash. He silently cursed the airplane’s seating as it made it hard for the two of them to get any closer to each other than they already were. He opened up the first page of the first chapter and held it out for the orange drillbot to read. “Here. Just tell me when to flip the page, okay? I’ll read, too.” 

The rest of the plane ride went by much faster after that. It didn’t take long for Crash to become completely immersed and engrossed with the story. Although despite his enthusiasm, he was a significantly slower reader than Metal was, and by the time he’d finish with one page, Metal would have read it three times by then. It was something that Metal slowly adjusted to over the next few hours. But it made him so very happy to see Crash enjoying the story both he and Roll have taken quite a liking to. Now he can know the pain of this girl’s stupid choices and bad taste in men. Now he can know firsthand of the suffering Tristen goes through. 

By the time they had landed, morning broke through the night and the pair found Quick and Flash asleep and comfortable against one another. Upon reaching the Jungle City, the first thing they noticed was utterly hot and bright the whole place was. Then they bought many water bottles and a disposable camera and took many pictures of the city. The city itself was utterly beautiful and wonderful in all of its natural glory. Buildings towered precariously over the Amazon river and lush greenery snaked its way into everything. The river itself was bigger and more breathtaking than any river they had ever laid eyes on. But despite this as well as his craving for fun, Quick insisted that they had a mission to complete first. 

A short boat trip along said river and constantly double-checking the coordinates on the slip of paper that Shadow gave them and soon enough they found themselves getting closer and closer to Snake Man’s station. 

“Are we there yet?” Metal asked quietly, his audio receptor extensions twitching at every sound and bird call that sounded from the forest, which was quite frequent. He trudged through the greenery and dirt in the back of the group. Crash, however, whipped his head towards each bird cry, desperately searching to see the source of the calls. 

“Not yet~,” Quick chirped back at him. Within their CPUs, they could pinpoint their own location in relative distance to the coordinates that was Snake Man’s station. How anyone could’ve gotten into this station normally was a completely mystery to him. Even with a clear idea in their CPUs of what direction to head in, it was still a labyrinth to get through the rainforest. The moment Snake Man was reactivated, he had to know how the hell he maneuvered around here, how he knew where the hell the go and look if his station was this secluded and deep within the rainforest. “How’s everyone holding up?” 

“Good,” Metal and Flash answered, before the latter drank an entire bottle of water. Beads of sweat dripped down his face. 

Quick then looked behind himself to Crash, who was in a starry-eyed trance, or staring contest, with a nearby toucan. The orange Robot Master glanced at Quick for a moment before carefully pointing a drill at the bird. “Look at this bird!” He gushed softly, a huge, happy grin on his face. “I love this bird! It’s so cute! Its beak is so big! …What’s it called?” 

“That’s a toucan,” Metal answered behind him. 

“What was that red and blue bird we saw before?” Crash asked excitedly. 

“That was a parrot.” 

“And what about that really big bird that we saw eat that monkey?” 

“That… uh… a hawk, I guess? A different one than what we saw in the desert.” 

Crash bring his drills to his face and gushed louder. “Aaahhh! That’s so cool! There’s so many pretty birds in here!” He faced the toucan again. “Hiya toucan! You’re so pretty!” He cooed, holding a drill out. The bird chattered at him and flew towards him, landing on said drill. Crash’s already wide eyes then turned huge and sparkly and he gasped. “Guys! Flash! FLASH FLASH FLASH! It likes me~!” He practically vibrated in place out of sheer excitement. 

About a good five photos later, Crash waved goodbye to the toucan and the four continued onward. Crash spent nearly the entire time bouncing next to Metal happily. Said cutter robot couldn’t help but smile at the sight. The forest grew only thicker and Quick maneuvered more carefully around the brush. About an hour or so later, Quick stopped his ‘brothers’ behind him. 

“I think we’ve (finally) made it, everyone!” He announced to everyone else. 

“How do you know?” Crash asked. 

Quick silently answered Crash by pushing away the last of the thicket out of the way and gesturing to the small clearing in front of them. Compared to the rest of the rainforest, this clearing looked drastically different from what they were used to seeing for the past few hours. Right in the center of the clearing was a dirt path leading to… a collapsed green, iridescent station. Based off of the texture and color alone, it must’ve been built to blend in with the rest of the canopy, he mentally noted. Years of disuse and abandonment has caused plants to grow over the bricks, pipes, and broken pillars. 

He looked over to the left, and then to the right, and spotted off in the distance a parked jeep on an old and forgotten dirt path. The car looked fairly new and not abandoned like the rest of the station. 

“We’re not alone,” Quick warned, his voice having taken a more serious tone. One that his family knows he only uses when he wants to say something important. He turned to face them. “Alright, here’s the plan. No matter how tempting it is to run off or even if you see Snake Man’s body, we’re going to stick together and stay close, okay? And we’re going to keep moving forward, even if we see any enemy robots or humans trying to pick a fight with us. We’re here to pick up Snake Man and get outta here as fast as possible. That’s our mission. Does everybody understand?” 

“Yes!” Flash, Metal, and Crash said in unison, nodding. 

“Alright, then let’s do this. The faster this gets done, the faster we can get home and also get Bubble back, too. We’ve got this.” Quick said, smirking. 

The four took the dirt path and cautiously approached the destroyed station. What stood out amongst the rubble and destruction was one last piece of a building standing tall and was only partially crumbled. It stood proudly in the back of the station dozens of feet away. And at the very top of the building was the familial steel doors that led to every Robot Master’s battle arena and teleporter room. The only issue though… was that these doors towered high above everything else, with no way seemingly to get them. 

All around them, scattered amongst debris and pipes were broken robots, imitating all kinds of animals. Bats, rabbits, birds… and snakes. Broken Mettaurs and Hammer Joes were carelessly laid out amongst them. Megaman must’ve done this years ago. 

Flash and Quick glanced at each other before Flash slowly removed his ring off of his finger and stored it away in his arm compartment. Quick did the same and faced them all again. “Okay… we need to find a way to get all the way up there.” He explained, pointing to the towering doors. “Let’s look around, -carefully-, and not stray off TOO far, got it? If any of you run into trouble, head back to me. If you find something we can use to get up there, also head back to me. Okay?” He ordered. 

“Aye!” 

The four Robot Masters began to cautiously and carefully search the abandoned, partially-collapsed station. Flash checked the frontal area and occasionally tapped a nearby robot to see what the damages were. Which, to his surprise, he discovered that most of the robots had little to no battle damage on them. Crash checked the leftmost area of the dilapidated station. Despite thoroughly examining everything around him and smelling the air for anything suspicious, he wasn’t able to find anything. Quick checked the area just ahead of Flash and looked around for any means of getting up to the doors. However, what he had found instead was something entirely different. On the dirt ground, he spotted a footprint. And then another. And another. A series of footsteps leading to behind the partially-standing building. “Hmm…” He hummed. They were rather large, circular, toe-less footprints, too. “Another Robot Master has been here.” He murmured to no one in particular. 

Metal looked around the rightmost area of the station, and nothing odd then had caught his eye. However… What was that… Metal thought to himself. His optics narrowed, before zooming in on something in the distance. Not too far way, he spotted a small, fallen platform. Its underside was seemingly covered in a fluffy material reminiscent to that of clouds, and underneath it was a propeller. 

“That could work.” Metal muttered in surprise. He then called out, “Quick! Hey Quick, I found something!” 

Immediately, he heard Quick call out in the distance back to him. “So did I! Get over here!” 

Metal straightened himself and looked around until he saw his scarlet brother in the distance. He decided to go forward and around the platform, before heading right towards him in the very center of the station. “What’d you find?” He asked, approaching Quick. 

Quick began to approach him as well. “Footsteps. I’ve only seen one set of them so far, but they look new and fresh. We’ve got someone we’re probably gonna have to deal with if we see ‘em. You?” 

Metal smirked behind his mask. “Eh, they’ll be scrap metal by the time we’re done with them. It’d be four on one. Also, I found a propeller-powered platform a little ways over there.” He gestured, continuing to walk towards Quick. “We got lucky. We found a way to get up there without even running into any troub--” 

Click. 

Quick’s eyes darted down to the source of the noise, which came from underneath Metal’s foot. To his horror, something was blinking red underneath his foot for a good half a second before the ground Metal stood atop of completely retracted and disappeared. Quick’s eyes turned huge. “AH--!” Metal yelped, falling into the sudden bottomless pit. In an instant, he stretched his limbs out as far as they could go and slammed his hands and feet against the walls of the bottomless pit. His body’s descent slowed down significantly until he came to a complete stop, before he felt something harshly poke at his chest light. He looked down and his core turned ice cold, chills overwhelming his wires and circuits. Had he not stopped his fall any sooner, his body would have become one with the rows and rows of indescribably sharp spikes at the end of the bottomless pit. One particular spike tip touched his chest light. Metal’s eyes turned huge and a weak, small noise escaped his paled lips. _Of course,_ this would happen. I just HAD to say something, didn’t I?! OF COURSE! Metal thought. 

“METAL! Oh god, Metal! Metal, PLEASE tell me you’re still alive!” He heard Quick shout from the top of the bottomless pit. 

“I-I-I-I’m still alive…!” Metal whimpered back up. 

“Oh, thank fuck!” Quick yelled, but a loud and low whirring sound drowned out his voice. He whipped his head up and immediately ran a scan all around him. One, two… seven… thirteen… twenty-one… oh no. He picked up on easily more than three dozen robotic signatures in less than half a minute and the number was still growing. Fear filled his core, but not for his own safety. He immediately rocketed off towards Crash to lift him up and throw him towards the center of the station, and then went after Flash next. 

“O-oh god, what’s happening?!” Crash yelped, as Flash regained his composure. “Where’s Metal?” He asked immediately on guard. He was answered by a frantic yell from the bottomless pit next to him. “Oh god.” Crash muttered, looking down the bottomless pit. “O-oh god, Metal, we’ll get you out of there soon! H-hang in there!”

“WHAT DO YOU THINK I’M DOING?!” Metal yelled back at him, trying his hardest not to lose his grip and fall into the spikes just below him. 

“I think we might have to take a little longer than ‘soon,’” Flash said, his buster arm’s hand retracting into his arm and producing the end of his Time Stopper. 

Before the three Robot Masters still standing, every single underling robot that was thought to be broken suddenly rose before them as if they were newly built. Their eyes glowed red upon activation and faced the three. They were completely surrounded by angry ‘undead’ robotic animals, including multiple snake robots detached from their guard posts. “I can’t believe this,” Quick hissed, “Whoever was the piece of scrap to set up this trap is both a real clever guy and an asshole at the same time. Boys, there’s too many of these guys, so we’re gonna have to fight if we want Snake Eyes! Get ready!” He commanded, materializing his largest Quick Boomerang in both of his hands and wielded it like a sword. 

Flash cocked his buster and began to glow faintly. Crash readied his drills and revved them. Both of their facial expressions morphed from nervous to battle ready. 

“Stick together! We can handle them all together! I’ve got your backs!” Quick commanded. And like that, the animalistic robots that surrounded them all leapt or flew towards the Robot Masters. 

The next few minutes was absolute chaos. All hell had broken loose over the decaying station, as energy shots, Quick Boomerangs, and Crash Bombers were traded with flurries of plasma beams, homing birds, bombs, and flying robotic snakes. Crash blew up group after group of robots, and somewhere within him, a part of him finally felt a long-craved satisfaction. A wide, sharktooth grin soon found itself plastered on his face. It’s been so long since he’s gotten to blow up this many robots. To watch bits of inferior robotic scrap burst forth in a glorious explosion only filled him with a powerful, exciting kind of glee, and he let out a manic laugh amongst the carnage. He didn’t care about what shots came his way since they weren’t special weapons, and he took them with ease. 

Flash, however, wasn’t having as much fun as Crash was. He kept a careful eye on both him and Quick whilst firing his buster into the air to take down various Pipis and Bomb Fliers. He wasn’t going to let anyone lose any body parts this time. Not like last time. He saw snake-like robots fly towards him and he simply dodged by ‘teleporting’ slightly to the side. He had to be careful with his Time Stopper whilst Quick was around. He absolutely refused to hurt him in any way if he could help it, but stopping time for about one to two seconds wouldn’t hurt anybody. 

Quick had become a blur in the fleeting moments that went by. His speed was unmatched compared to anything else in that area, and the rush was absolutely exhilarating to him. He grinned widely as he flung Quick Boomerang after Quick Boomerang to pelt any robotic stragglers who survived Crash’s Crash Bombers. His grin became even wider as Crash left alone a small group of robots. His legs moved faster before pushing the rest of him at even greater speeds, and he summoned his large Quick Boomerang again. He held it in front of himself and tackled the robots. 

Perhaps if it were one Robot Master, they may have struggled. But this was the power of three Robot Masters, all working together. Albeit, the teamwork was sloppy and not very organized, but they would take this over having to fight in one-on-ones all the time. 

Metal let out a heavy, shaky sigh. The sounds of war from above the bottomless pit were loud and clear to him and he felt gross. Weak. Especially stupid for letting himself get in this situation. His arms and legs trembled. No. NO. No, he can’t give up now. Giving up means dying a painful, violent death. He had to help his brothers out! He has to get out of tHIS DAMN PIT FIRST. Metal growled to himself before trying to shift his hands and feet up the walls very, very slowly. 

After what felt like a long while, the last remaining robots standing was only Flash, Quick, and Crash. Quick came screeching to a halt next to his partner and his brother, panting lightly. “Ha… haaaa…. I think that’s every last one of them.” He looked around just to double check. “Ha… yeah. Great job, everyone. W-we did it!” He wheezed. Okay, he might’ve pushed himself a little and ran a lot faster than he needed to. 

Flash brought a hand up to his face and wiped the dripping beads of sweat away. “Yeah, we kicked ass today. Got ambushed and came out on top!” He said breathily, and smiled. He pulled out a water bottle and drank. He felt quite proud of himself, too. He glanced at Quick. He didn’t have to use the Time Stopper to his fullest… He made his way over to Quick and put a hand on his back. “You doin’ alright?” 

Quick panted and looked up at Flash, and flashed said robot a smirk and thumbs up. “Oh yeah, I’m doin’ great, sweetheart.” 

Crash also caught his breath and calmed himself down. His vision didn’t turn red like the last time he entered a rage, but he’d rather not enter one if the two brothers that were weak to his weapon were around. “Yeah… YEAH! We’re awesome! We did it!” He cheered, grinning. 

Quick finally composed himself and cooled down. The scarlet robot looked over to the towering building in the nearby distance and smirked. “Now that the robot swarm ya threw at us is in scraps now,” he taunted to no one in particular, “Just try to make this any harder! I dare you! ‘See what happens when ya get in the way of second generation Wilybots!” He pointed at the far-away high-elevated doors. “Snake Man, we’re coming for ya!” He took a step forward for emphasis-- 

Click. 

Quick looked down at himself to see he had stepped on another blinking red switch. 

“Of-freaking-coURSE!” Quick yelped, leaping back before the ground below him disappeared. 

The very ground below them began to shake and tremble harshly. Crash lost his balance and fell over, while Flash ran up to Quick. “Quick, what happened?! W-what’s going on now?” 

“A-a-ahh-h shi-it! I f-fucked up a-again!” Quick yelped, before losing his balance and falling against Flash, who caught him. 

Crash scrambled over towards the bottomless pit that Metal fell down. “M-M-Metal, are you okay?!” 

“S-STILL HANGING IN THERE! WHAT THE HELL’S HAPPENING?!” He yelled, having stopped his very slow ascent up the pit and focused on holding himself up for dear life. Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down, he chanted very desperately within his head. 

“I--” Crash whipped his head around to answer Metal’s question, but his sentence dropped off of the face of the planet at what he saw. 

The large piles of rubble and debris behind all of them violently rumbled and shook, before something emerged out of it. Something BIG. Everyone’s eyes turned huge as it grew taller and taller. Towering before the Robot Masters… was a gigantic robotic snake, bigger than any robotic minion they had ever ordered around before. Completely detached from anything that would’ve kept it secured in one place. Its eyes glowed red and stared down at the Robot Masters, before rattling its huge metallic body at them and letting out a deep mechanical hiss at them. 

Crash turned back to the bottomless pit and stammered, “We’ve gotta go-- we gotta fight again. Hold on-!” 

Flash began to tremble, but Quick quickly grabbed his hand. “It’s just a big snake,” Quick said, squeezing his hand. “We can handle this! We just took down a swarm of smaller robots! We’re gonna be alright, alright, Flashy?” 

Flash gulped and nodded his head, trying his best to calm his nerves. He squeezed Quick’s hand back. “Y-you’re right! We’re gonna be fine! C-come on! Robot Masters keep fighting!” 

“No matter what!” Quick finished, letting go of Flash’s hand. He got into a battle stance, and Flash soon followed, and Crash did, too. The speedy robot grinned. “Come on, guys! CHAAARGE!” He cried out, as he leapt towards the giant robotic serpent, his brothers leaping as well about half a second later. He summoned his huge Quick Boomerang and was about to strike the snake when suddenly-- 

BAM!! 

In the blink of an eye, the robotic snake reacted by swatting its tail forward and slamming it into the speedy Robot Master. It fully connected with Quick’s face and the sheer force of the hit stopped his momentum and ended up harshly pushing him in the other direction, sending Quick flying high into the air and shooting far off into another part of the rainforest. 

Crash and Flash landed and froze in their tracks and stared off at their leader who rapidly became a speck in the sky. They slowly turned their heads to the giant serpent with huge eyes again. Said robotic snake glared down at them with fearsome eyes. The next few seconds were silent. Crash processed everything just happened before his look of shock morphed into a look of rage. 

“You HEAP OF SCRAP!” Crash snarled, before lifting both arms and firing two Crash Bombers at the mechanical serpent, only for the Bombers to have deflected off of its skin and explode elsewhere. And like that, Crash’s expression reverted from rage back into stunned shock. “... …Oh.” WELP. “Fl-Flash, what do we do now?” He asked, staring up at their enemy. 

Flash’s body was frozen, despite his circuits racing with digital adrenaline and his mind racing even faster with possible outcomes playing out in his head. Most of them ended with them being destroyed by this robot. “I-I have n-no idea, to be honest.” He began to charge his Time Stopper. 

The snake let out a guttural mechanical roar, before charging headfirst towards the two of them. The Robot Masters yelped and leapt out of the way just in time, firing their respective weapons at the mechanical monster. But sadly, their weapons did not affect this particular snake. Flash didn’t understand. What the hell is this snake made of that it’s impervious to CRASH BOMBERS? How was THIS thing Snake Man’s underling? What kind of Robot Master was Snake Man? What was this robot’s weakness?! 

…Probably not his Time Stopper. Flash grimaced. 

The snake then charged after him, chasing Flash down and trying to bite him, but to no avail. Everytime the snake was about to crunch through hard steel alloys and plexiglass, it only chewed through oxygen instead, the temporal Robot Master having ‘teleported’ further away and bolting away whilst shooting pitiful buster shots at the snake. Which of course, didn’t even phase the snake. His shots were weaker than even Megaman’s Mega Buster… “Oh god oh god oh god,” Flash huffed, sweating bullets instead of firing them effectively. He cursed himself for being so horribly slow. 

Whilst it chased him, another Robot Master struggled against a challenge of his own. Metal’s body trembled as he was awkwardly stuck just a couple of feet above spikes that would destroy his body and probably his IC chip easily were he to fall on them. Metal grit his teeth. If he could sweat like Flash could, a small puddle probably would have formed amongst the spikes by now. He could hear the sounds of a mechanical monster chasing after his family… And from the sounds of it, they were struggling against it, too. God, why the hell is he still down here?! He gazed up at the top of the pit… He still had a ways to go. “Fuck,” he hissed to himself. He had to help them. They needed as much help as they could get. He had to get out of here and do something! He growled and tried harder to awkwardly scale up the pit without losing his grip. It was only a matter of time before something terrible happened… He thought. I have to help them! 

Rather than running away, Crash chased after the monster that was trying to eat his ‘brother.’ He growled. If he couldn’t hurt it with his Crash Bombers, then he only had one other weapon he could use. Flash soon approached the last standing portion of the building that contained the fallen Robot Master they needed, and ‘teleported’ out of the monster’s way at the last second. The mechanical serpent smashed headfirst into the building, surprisingly not damaging or knocking it over, but instead just causing the entire station to tremble instead. 

Crash took this opportunity to leap into the air, revving his drills as fast as he could spin them. He let out a mighty battle cry. “RRRAAAAAHHHHH!” He roared, thrusting his drills forward and digging them into the head of the serpentine monster. The mechanical serpent bellowed out a mechanical, hollow roar and thrashed about. “OH GOD--” Crash yelped, trying to hold on for dear life. But alas… he had drills for hands. The serpent easily whipped the Robot Master off of it, cause Crash to tumble and crash into the ground. He collected himself, but by the time he looked for the monster, it was too late. Crash’s entire body froze in shock. Above him was the monster, having copied his own attack and leapt into the air, mouth unhinged and opened wide. Crash screwed his eyes shut, bracing for impact. 

…But instead of the feeling the weight of snake jaws crush his body, he felt a pair of arms struggling to pull him up to his feet. 

“Thank god,” Flash huffed and panted harshly, “J-just made it. C-c’mon Crash, we’ve gotta move-- HRGHK--!!” 

After minutes of nothing but biting attacks, neither of them were expecting a tail attack then, and both were hit by a massive steel tail slamming into them. However, the motion wasn’t simply a hit at all. Before they could collect themselves, said tail wrapped and coiled around the two, tighter and tighter and-- 

“S-shit-!” Crash gasped, his body feeling unbearably tight and crushed up against Flash’s. He squirmed and writhed to try to break free, but it only resulted in the metallic snake body coiling tighter around them. He growled and snarled and spun his drills as fast as he could, but nothing happened. “AaaaaARRGHHH!” He yelled in frustration. “Lemme go, you STUPID SNAKE! I HATE SNAKES!!” 

“Crash-- oh god--” Flash spat out, trying to break free himself, but his arms were trapped inside the coils, and they were rendered just as immobile as his legs. He wriggled and struggled, but the snake coils would not budge either from his efforts. “H-hold on, l-lemme just--” He began to charge his Time Stopper longer than usual, white lights traveling up his body. His body let loose a brilliant flash for just a moment, and activated the Time Stopper… …only to still be exactly where he was before. He grit his teeth. He stopped time for 20 whole seconds and he STILL wasn’t able to dislodge his body from the serpent’s grip. His body illuminated with white light and discharged another brilliant flash, and then a third time. To Crash, it looked as though Flash’s body was glitching and twitching against him from the way he used the Time Stopper. “Oh god, I can’t. I can’t anymore. I’m going to overheat if I keep using it.” He wheezed out. 

“Shit… I-it’s okay, Flash! We can figure something out!” Crash said, looking back at him. “M-maybe I can blow him up this way!” 

“Crash, the only thing that’s going to blow up if you do that is my legs. Your bombs don’t work against it.” Flash objected, scowling. But that expression soon morphed into something akin to despair. “I-I think this is it, Crash. Neither of us can budge this damn snake off of us…” 

“No! NO!! I WON’T BELIEVE IT! WE’RE NOT GONNA BE EATEN BY SOME DUMB SNAKE!!” He shouted. He wasn’t going out like this. He wasn’t going to let himself die, nor let his IC chip get damaged today, not when he still… Crash’s eyes suddenly widened huge. “Metal!” He suddenly shouted and called for his partner. “METAL!! METAAAAAAL!!” He nearly screamed. 

[Cr: METAL WHERE ARE YOU WE NEED YOU RIGHT NOW PLEASE PLEASE] 

Not too far away, the combination of Crash suddenly screaming for him as well as receiving that desperate message from him made Metal’s core drop into his metallic stomach. His circuits completely froze over and his face paled again. He immediately tried to scale up the pit faster. He frantically accessed the communication feature and devised a message in record timing. 

[Me: CRASH WHAT’S HAPPENING] 

The response was almost immediate. 

[Cr: A GIANT ROBOT SNAKE IS ABOUT TO EAT US] 

[Cr: THERE’S NO TIME PLEASE WE NEED YOU AND QUICK] 

[Cr: I NEED YOU] 

Metal’s breathing quickened. “Come on!!” He hissed to himself. Hand, foot, hand, foot, hand, foot…! He ordered to himself. He looked up again. He was so close to the top of the pit. He needs to grab the ledge. Crash needs him. He needs him RIGHT NOW. HE’S IN DANGER HE’S GOING TO DIE COME ON LET’S GO GO GO GO-- 

[Me: I’M COMING OVER THERE RIGHT NOW] 

[Fl: Quick, wherever you are, we need you RIGHT NOW. PLEASE PLEASE IF YOU’RE CONSCIOUS WE NEED YOU HERE] 

Flash panicked, and began to breathe unsteadily. Before the two of them, the monstrously-sized mechanical serpent gazed at them with an expression that almost looked like contempt. As if it were watching its prey’s last moments before deciding to actually eat it. Flash stared back at the serpent with huge, fearful eyes. “Q-quick,” Flash squeaked, before clearing his throat. “Q-Q-quiiick!!” He called out, his voice growing louder and louder. “QUIIIICK! QUUUUUIIIICCCKKK!!” 

… 

Hundreds of feet away from the station, a scarlet robot laid tangled in a bush. Broken tree branches unceremoniously laid atop of him after they broke his fall. His body faintly twitched, and his consciousness was hazy, somewhat like the mental equivalent of television static. He remained motionless for the most part, and let out a soft groan of pain. He couldn’t even begin to recall just how long he fell for, but he was grateful that this place had such ridiculously tall trees. 

But just barely… his audio receptors picked up on a distant noise. It was… a voice…? Or so he thought. Quick blinked slowly, focusing on picking up the sound. It sounded awfully familiar, it sounded like… 

Quick’s eyes widened slowly. “Crash…?” Another distant voice soon filtered into his receptors. “Flash?” He breathed. Wait. That was definitely Flash. Flash and Crash were screaming. 

Wait. 

Flash was screaming. He was screaming his name. 

Quick’s eyes snapped completely open now. 

Flash is screaming my name. THAT’S BAD. He’s screaming for help. Oh god. Oh god, what’s happening to him?! What’s happening to my Flashy?! He thought frantically. Quick immediately began to grab the heavy tree branches atop of him and push them off, ignoring the pain aching through his steel body. As he did that, he finally noticed that within his CPU the digital equivalent of constant buzzing in one’s ear. Something was blowing up within that new communication feature. He accessed it and immediately was swarmed with frantic message after message. He read through them all rapidly and sharply gasped. 

“Oh my god, no. No no no no! OH GOD FLASH, I’M COMING!” Quick yelled in a panic, throwing the last branch off of himself and springing up to his feet. He nearly fell over but he forced himself to stand upright, before breaking into a run. He set the coordinates to Snake’s station as his destination within his CPU and began to pick up the pace, running faster and faster and faster. 

[Qu: I’M HERE NOW I’M COMING I’M COMING I’M COMING] 

Quick’s eyes sharpened as everything around him began to fly past him from how fast he was running. He could feel his body beginning to heat up again from exerting himself, but he didn’t give any scraps whatsoever. Crash and Flash need him. THEY’RE IN TROUBLE AND FLASHY NEEDS HIM HE’S IN DANGER! He has to go FASTER! 

He pushed himself harder and moved his legs even faster. They had become nothing but a red and black blur at that point. His exterior at least felt cool from all of the air that he ripped through like bullet. He hurdled over everything that was big, and leapt over anything bigger. Faster than this. He has to go faster than ANYTHING right now. He has to run faster than he’s EVER ran before! He has to help them! 

The mechanical serpent murred a low-pitched noise, before finally feeling satisfied with its prey and soon opening its mouth terrifyingly wide. Crash and Flash’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates. They quivered hard. Within the back of the serpent’s mouth, a light flared and grew both incredibly bright and incredibly hot. Flash’s body froze over with ice within his wires and circuits. The snake can breathe fire. Oh please god no he didn’t want to burn to death. Especially if Crash was right next to him. A Robot Master filled to the brim with his other main weakness… 

[Fl: QUICK HURRY IT CAN BREATHE FIRE PLEASE QUICK] 

[Cr: METAL]

FASTER! Quick screamed at himself, despite his body’s own screaming. He forced himself to run ever faster. He growled in both pain and determination, and by now, he was completely unaware that his blurred legs had begun to form a figure eight shape. His body was burning scorchingly hot on the inside and it tried to warn him with countless pop-up message after message that systems were dangerously close to overheating and shutting down, but he didn’t care. He had to save his partner, his love of his life, his _Flashy!_ Quick spotted the infamously massive river approaching him unbelievably fast, but he didn’t care. He knew he was faster. And he was right when he began to run across the surface of the water with ease. He had somewhere to be RIGHT NOW. He was so close to the station according to his CPU. God, did he hope he was right. 

The serpent’s flame grew larger and larger within its mouth, and became incredibly white. Flash and Crash leaned back as much as they could from the monster and flinched. “METAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!” Crash screamed in a panic. 

“QUIIIIIIIIIIICK!” Flash screamed as well. 

“NO!!” Metal and Quick both yelled in sheer panic and worry upon hearing their partners cry out for them. 

The robotic serpent was about to unleash absolute inferno onto the two helpless Robot Masters when suddenly, something sharp and silver screeched and ripped through the air, and buried itself into the one of its optics. The snake roared in agony as suddenly, countless more Metal Blades dug themselves into the side of its metallic body. Crash’s expression shifted from wide-eyed in terror immediately to wide-eyed astonishment. 

The moment Metal had grabbed the ledge, he nearly vaulted himself back onto solid ground, whipped around, and threw a Metal Blade as hard as he could. He now ran towards the mechanical monster, throwing Metal Blade after Metal Blade in a fury. When he got close enough, he leapt through the air towards the recoiling snake and winded his arm back. 

“Get the HELL,” Metal growled loudly, “OFF OF MY MAN!” And then… 

BAM!! 

The serpent was knocked to the ground by the sheer force that Metal had thrown into his punch. It had loosened its deathgrip on Flash and Crash, causing the both of them to fall to the ground as the serpent scrambled to do the exact opposite. It opened its mouth wide to spit fire at Metal, but instead, it received more Metal Blades to the inside of its mouth, including the powerful flamethrower in the back of said mouth. 

The serpent choked out a hiss at the cutter robot, but before it could retaliate properly, a scarlet red blur had flew right past it at an unbelievable speed and landed in the forest thicket behind it with a loud 'CRAAAASH!!' Seconds later, its head fell off of its body, both parts unmoving and crackling with electricity. The serpent was slain. 

Flash slowly and shakily picked himself up, but his trembling and shaking never stopped. Crash remained on the ground, feeling a strange combination of terror, frustration, amazement, and relief. Almost instantly, his burgundy partner squatted down in front of him, retracting his mask. Metal’s face showed nothing more clearly than genuine concern and worry. “Crash, are you okay?” He asked, the worry becoming more and more prominent on his face. 

Crash was unresponsive at first, before shakily nodding his head. Metal got on his knees and tightly hugged the drillbot. “Yeah. …Y-yeah, I’m okay now. I’m okay… W-we made it.” He breathed to himself and shuddered, before lifting his arms up and tightly hugging Metal back. “Y-you saved me… O-oh my god, thank you, Metal… I… I-I love you so much, I-I really--” Crash stammered and began to gush, but his words came to screeching halt when he leaned back and saw small tears brimming at the corners of Metal’s eyes. 

“God, I was so worried.” He said shakily. “I was so, s-so, so sc-scared for you. I-I thought… I-I thought I-I-I w-w-was t-t-too-oo l-laa-aate…” Metal sniffled and whimpered, before leaning his face into the crook of Crash’s neck and just held him so goddamn close and tight. He couldn’t help but allow a few tears to escape his optics and roll down his cheeks. 

Crash held him and tried his best to nuzzle against him and plant small kisses on his audio receptor and its extensions. “No, no… you did amazing, Metal. You were right on time… There, there, you were right on time…” 

“I l-lo-love you so m-much…” Metal softly cried to him. 

Meanwhile, Flash tried to take deep breaths to calm himself down, but he simply felt too shaken up after that. G-god, he was almost melted into nothing alongside Crash. He could almost feel the dangerously high heat if he closed his-- Suddenly, the red blur came back and screeched to a halt in front of him. His partner whirled around wildly and clamped his hands onto his shoulders. A wide-eyed look of sheer worry was etched onto Quick’s face, a rather unusual sight for the speedy Robot Master. 

He looked up and down Flash’s body hastily, before pausing, and then relaxing against the temporal robot. His body was alarmingly hot, and Flash placed his hands on Quick as well. 

“Y-your body!” Flash gasped. “That’s way too hot! A-are you okay? Did you overheat?!” He asked Quick worriedly. 

“I-I’m fine, I-I didn’t overheat,” Quick stammered, shaken. He wrapped his arms around his partner’s body. “I’m just so, so relieved that you’re okay. Thank everything. You’re okay…” He breathed. He nuzzled against Flash, but it didn’t hide the harsh trembling his body felt. 

“Quick…” Flash murmured softly, placing his white and yellow hands against the speedy robot’s back and slowly rubbing his back up and down. “Just take it easy, Quick… Breathe slowly… E-everything’s okay now, alright…? You made it on time.” He soon felt Quick melt into him and relax in his embrace. He nuzzled the speedy Robot Master. 

Finally… for the first time since they arrived in the country, the two pairs finally relaxed against one another. Even though they didn’t quite understand everything that was going on with this station or the Robot Master they needed to recover, they were happy to just have a calm moment amongst the chaos. They weren’t done yet with their mission, but they took a break regardless. Most of the time was spent just leaning against one another for comfort amongst the many chunks of scrap metal they had just made today all around them. 

“Alright… everyone feel a little better?” Quick asked quietly after standing up and letting go of Flash. 

“I’m definitely feeling better.” Flash cooed, before standing up as well and giving the scarlet robot a kiss on the cheek. “My hero~,” He purred quietly to him. His smile grew wide as Quick’s face began to become tinted with red, before he was met with a grin back. 

“I think we’re both okay now, too.” Metal breathed, him and Crash standing up. “Jeez… did Megaman have to deal with all of these traps?” 

“Probably not. That totally wasn’t the setup that I’ve seen any of us use for our stations when we fought Megaman.” Crash said. “...Is it bad if I’m kinda scared to step anywhere here?” 

“Not at all. This place sucks.” Quick snorted, before smirking. “But we’re almost done here. We took out the biggest guy here. Now all we’ve gotta do is just go grab Snake Eyes before anybody else does and head back to Doc’s lab.” 

“Sorry to ruin the day, but that’s not going to happen,” an unfamiliar, thick-accented voice suddenly sounded throughout the air. Almost instantly, all four Wilybots were on guard and looked around, until in front of the still-standing building they spotted not one, but two Robot Masters standing here, holding… 

“H-hey!” Metal barked and pointed at them. “That’s our snake! Give us back that Snake Man! Er… ...please give us that Snake Man.” You couldn’t forget the ‘please,’ it takes you far in life. Hanging over the shoulder of the taller Robot Master was the lifeless body of Snake Man. Between all of the serpentine-themed robots and this one, there was no doubt in any of their heads that this was not Snake Man himself. The skinny body… the white and green… the very, VERY long ‘tail’ of sorts that extended from the back of his helmet out in smooth, wiggly segments… His body was buried almost head to toe in a weapon that he didn’t recognize. The weapon almost looked like oversized needles of some sort… That was most definitely Snake Man. The only issue was that he was in the arms of… 

“Tch…” The smaller Robot Master next to the larger grunted, before speaking in that heavy Brazilian accent again. “Even if you’re polite, there’s no way in heck we’re handing him over. He’s needed by the good Doctor. This has nothing to do with you, Wilybots.” He scowled at them and tried to look intimidating, but… with a helmet that looks like a rafflesia flower, it was rather difficult feat to pull off. He turned to his partner and shifted his tongue from English to Portuguese. “Certo, meu amigo? Tenho certeza que Wilybots entenderia isso…”

The taller Robot Master, however, remained silent and narrowed his eyes at the four Wilybots, scrutinizing them up and down. His smaller friend faltered. “Uh… Certo? …Right? … … …P-please don’t ignore me.” He suddenly said, looking down and hurt. 

The taller Robot Master immediately snapped out of analysis and looked at the smaller Robot Master. “W-what-- Oh, goodness, no! Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore you at all! I just… I just remembered these robots!” He apologized, before turning to the Wilybots and excitedly gushed towards Metal and Crash. “Hi Wilybots! Do you remember me?! We saw each other about a month or two ago! At Dr. Light’s house!” Despite wearing a mask, one could tell the Robot Master was utterly elated at this recollection. 

Metal and Crash looked at each other confusedly, before glancing at the tall robot. Now it was their turn to scrutinize him. After a few seconds, Metal’s eyes widened. “Oh shit, I remember you. You’re that bee Robot Master that ran past us screaming about Brazil.” He breathed. Quick and Flash shot Metal a weird look. 

“You’ve met this guy before?” Flash asked, tilting his head slightly. 

“Yeah. …Uh. It was only for a few seconds, though. By the way, how DID you know we were Wilybots then?” Metal asked the one and only Hornet Man, bewildered. 

“Oh, that’s because you looked utterly terrifying the first time I saw you. That’s how I can tell Wilybots from Lightbots.” Hornet cheerily explained. 

“Oh… t-thanks.” Metal shifted a bit awkwardly. 

“You know, we never got to properly meet. So I’m Hornet Man, this tiny deactivated man is Snake Man, aaaaand…” Hornet’s eyes could have been more starry at that very moment as he spun around and held his free arm towards his friend. “This is the one and only Plant Man~!” He very proudly and excitedly announced. However, his friend’s overenthusiastic and overall euphoric introduction for him only ended up making Plant Man blush profusely and hide his reddening face in his hands and closing flower petals. 

“H-Hornet, y-you do not have to make me s-sound so special and important… I’m just a flower…” Plant humbly rejected his own admiration, which in turn made Hornet face Plant with a sadder expression. 

“But you ARE special and important! At least to me you are! And to Dr. Astil! And to everybody who loves our garden! And flowers are cool!” Hornet objected and gushed to Plant. 

“I know flowers are cool! But n-not everyone else thinks the way we do! What if they think flowers are stupid? W-we’d just be embarrassing ourselves for no reason…” Plant said, gesturing to the Wilybots. 

“Nah, it’s cool,” Quick reassured the botanical robot, “We’ve got a close bud of ours named Wood Man. He’s a ~tree~. He used to let us know very thoroughly how cool plants are. Every. Single. Day.” And then he offered a warm smile at him. 

Plant Man brightened a little bit at the sight. “R-really…? O-oh thank goodness…” He looked significantly more relaxed, now that he knew that these Wilybots had no reason to tease or bully him for being a flower-themed Robot Master. Which he and Hornet both thought was a rather trivial and stupid reason to be a scraphead to someone about, and yet, has had multiple unfortunate experiences of this happen already… 

“You know… if Wood were here with us, he’d probably be elated to meet somebody like you. He loves talking about gardening and the wilderness and plants and all that stuff.” Metal said supportively. “You could say that you’d both become quite good _buddies.”_ He then grinned behind his mask and made finger guns at the two. 

However, everyone stared at Metal blankly. A stiff silence filled the air. Soon, the cutter robot’s grin died and he looked around confusedly. “What, did nobody get it? Buddies? Like--” 

“Ohhhh, I get it!” Hornet suddenly realized, “Buddies like FLOWER BUDS, hahahaha, that’s a good one!” 

NOW everyone groaned in despair. Metal’s grin reappeared behind his mask and resumed his finger guns at Hornet and Plant. “There we go. See, I’ve got at least one robot that I can always _bee-lieve_ in,” Metal said. The groans only grew only stronger in both volume and despair. 

“YOU SUCK, METAL, YA HEAR ME? S-U-C-K!” Quick yelled at him. 

“Metal, I don’t even have the energy to drill you this time… But that was terrible.” Crash said, leaning against the cutter robot. 

“You disgust me.” Plant Man said with a completely straight face. 

“Sorry if that first pun was bad.” Metal apologized, before his hidden grin turned undeniably evil. “I was trying something a little different, but maybe I’m better just _sticking to my roots_ and letting the puns… _blossom_ on their own! KhhhhhehEHHEHEHEHEHHEHE~!” Metal cackled. Flash couldn’t help but snicker and Hornet began to giggle. 

“It’s like they’re so bad they’re good!” Hornet giggled harder. 

“Alright, raise of hands for all in favor of throwing Metal back into the bottomless pit.” Quick said jokingly, but to his surprise, Plant was the first to raise his hand, even before Crash or himself. He couldn’t help but smirk amusedly. 

“Alright, alright, I’m done, I-I’m done!” Metal laughed, calming himself down and raising his hands in surrender. 

“Ahahahahaehehhehee~! Okay…! Okay. Phew!” Hornet calmed himself down as well. “That was fun… uh… Woops, I never got your names. Oh yeah, are any of your names are Metal Man, Flash Man, Quick Man, or Crash Man?” 

“That’s all four of us!” Crash chirped, coming back to life after Metal’s puns drained it out of him. 

“Oh perfect! It’s nice to meet all of you officially! In THAT case, here you go.” Hornet chirped, before walking over to the four and slinging Snake Man’s lifeless body off of himself and handing him to Quick Man. Quick took the limp, but lightweight body into his arms. “Dr. Light asked Dr. Astil to help you guys out with something important you’re all taking care of, so he sent us to help you go retrieve him. You’re welcome.” 

“O-oh.” Quick said, eyes widening. “Oh… w-well, ah, thanks! Thanks a lot!” He smiled brightly, but for only a moment, as a thought creeped into his head. “But hold on a sec. How the hell did you get Snake Man if his battle arena’s all the way up there?” 

“There was a door behind that building,” Plant explained, “We opened it and climbed up a very, very tall staircase to the battle room.” 

Quick Man twitched. 

“Oh.” He said again. His voice was eerily calm and he twitched again. “So. Ya mean to tell me… that we could’ve just… ya know. Walked around the whole damn station and taken the stairs… and avoided all of this?” He gestured to all the carnage and destruction that was littered all around them as a result of all the fighting they did today. 

“Yeah! But… uh… not-so-luckily, you didn’t.” Hornet said. “You would not believe how incredibly long and neverending those stairs are. We only just got out of there a few minutes ago!” 

“W-wait, hold on,” Crash said, bringing a drill tip to his mouth. His eyebrows furrowed in thought. “So if we were fighting all the swarms of robots and the giant snake, and you were busy this whole climbing the stairs and getting Snake Man… then who set all the traps?” 

_“That would be us.”_ An unfamiliar voice spoke loudly and clearly. Crash turned around to see who was talking, only to immediately get jabbed harshly in the face with something long and thin and hard. That also… could stretch? 

“Ow! Piece of scrap…” Crash hissed. Metal looked at him concerned. “I’m fine, I’ve been through worse.” He reassured his partner quietly. Metal then turned to face the intruders.

He and Flash assumed a defensive stance while Quick clutched Snake Man tighter in his arms. “Of course…” Metal sighed. Approaching them from across the station were three unfamiliar Robot Masters that… Metal ended up scratching his head in genuine confusion. He… he’s never seen Robot Masters like these before… 

Flash’s hand swapped itself out with the buster end of his Time Stopper. He pointed said buster at the three mysterious Robot Masters. “Who are you?! I want names right now!” He barked out to them. 

The same voice from before, something rather goofy and shrill-sounding, spoke out. “This is going to be a very, very quick talk, so I don’t think names are needed. But… if you really want _something…”_ The Robot Master grinned and bared his very sharp teeth. 

“Then you can call us the ‘Genesis Unit.’”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was that, everyone? :D I got to introduce a lot of things with this one and I'm pretty happy with how this chapter turned out myself! Please leave a comment and tell me what you think of it! :D


	14. The Serpent's Twist (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1,000 views?! ONE THOUSAND VIEWS?! 
> 
> OH MY GOODNESS! Thank you so much, everybody!! I cannot begin to express how happy I am! I'm really really glad that you guys like the fic and have continued liking it and and WOW WOWOWOWOW I'M *cries* 
> 
> ALSO!! I went to my very first MAGFest a few weeks ago!! WOW! I never thought I'd find a convention so... drastically different than all the other ones I've gone to before! It was really a breath of fresh air to me and I really wanna go back to MAGFest again. So much awesome music... So much MEGAMAN EVERYWHERE... Oh! And I managed to get a cosplay done just in the nick of time!! I cosplayed as Metal!! And I got to go with a Crash, too!! 
> 
> Anyways, onto Chapter 14! I'm fairly proud of this one, this one took a lot of effort. Please enjoy~! 
> 
> (Recommended music to listen to while you read: any Initial D song ever)

The air was tense. The shrieking of tropical birds filled the thick silence between the three groups of Robot Masters. Four Robot Masters carrying their objective, three mysterious Robot Masters slowly approaching them from across the dilapidated and crumbled battle station. And two confused and weary Robot Masters caught in the middle of it all. 

The three robots who called themselves the Genesis Unit sauntered over to the others and closed the distance between them. However, most of the Wilybots took a step back. Crash readied his drills and pointed them at the three offensive robots, Flash pointed his buster at them, and Metal summoned two Metal Blades in either hand and assumed a battle-ready stance. However, Flash glanced at Quick, who was holding the limp body of Snake Man in his arms. 

“Genesis Unit, huh?” Quick stated, smirking widely and confidently. “Where’d ya get that name fer yourselves? A videogame store?” 

The first Robot Master, wielding the shrill and goofy sounding voice, pouted at the speedy robot. “Actually, it was because we thought it sounded coo--” 

“It was bestowed onto us by our master.” The second robot cut over the first robot’s voice, rather irritably. The first robot glared at him, instantly annoyed. His eyes narrowed upon the Wilybots and he scrutinized the four of them. A tall and skinny guy, a bald guy, a very edgy guy, and the last one has drills for hands. “So you four are the renegade robots he was talking about…?” He scoffed at them in a thick Japanese accent. Most of them didn’t even look all that threatening or strong to begin with! To think that they lost to Megaman but could give their master so much trouble even after death… But… perhaps this would be easier than he thought it’d be if it’s just these robots. 

Flash’s eyes widened at his comment, before scrutinizing and looking up and down the three mysterious robots. If he had to put it simply, they all looked like animal-themed Robot Masters, like Snake Man, but taken to the extreme. One of them resembled a monkey of some sort wielding a metallic red staff, another a very large and very round pig, and the third was… uh… some kind of turtle… creature? Is that supposed to be a mythological creature? Maybe Metal might know this better, he reads more than I do, the temporal robot thought to himself. “So Dr. Wily sent you after us?” He asked, still pointing his buster at them. 

The kappa robot’s eyes widened. “What-- N-no?! Why would Dr. Wily send us after you four?! That’s absurd!” He yelped. The monkey robot snickered at him. “What are -you- laughing at?!” 

“I-It’s your voice. You always sound funny when you’re flustered. Kekekekeke~” He cackled. 

“Shut up!” The kappa robot yelped at him again, blushing and grinding his teeth behind his beak-like mask. 

“We’re actually here on vacation.” The large pig-like robot casually said in his deep, bellowing voice. It was as though everytime he spoke, the air trembled a little. He glanced at the kappa and monkey robots for just a moment. 

The four Wilybots stared at the three animal Robot Masters in complete disbelief, before looking at each other. Are… a-are they serious? They turned and faced Plant Man and Hornet Man, who looked just as bewildered as them. “Do you know these guys?” Quick asked the two, gesturing over at the strange, unheard of robots across from them with his head. 

Plant and Hornet shook their heads, wide-eyed. “I’ve never seen them before!” Hornet stated, before turning to Plant and whispered, “Do you think they run a zoo or something?” He asked him. Plant’s mouth contorted upward into a smile and his bee friend’s comment elicited a giggle out of him. 

“I heard that!” The monkey barked at them. Meanwhile, Quick faced the his partner and his ‘brothers’, putting a hand to his chin, deep in thought. 

[Qu: These guys kind of suck at lying.] 

[Fl: No, they definitely suck.] Flash immediately responded, glancing at Quick, but keeping an eye on the three animalistic Robot Masters. He watched as the monkey robot began to loudly heckle Hornet in quite possibly the shrillest voice he’s ever heard. 

[Cr: I was about to ask why they would set up traps here if they’re on vacation. So, they’re definitely Wilybots?] 

[Fl: Most likely. Whatever they want, though, definitely has to do with Snake Man. Quick, what do we do?] 

[Qu: Well, even though we fucked up our original plan of action, we still have time to follow through with it. We already searched the area and grabbed Snake Eyes, and now we just need to get the hell out of here. If it can be avoided, maybe we don’t have to fight them. They don’t really seem like smart robots to me.] 

[Me: If that’s the case, then let me take it from here. I just got an idea.] 

Metal cleared his throat, dematerialized his Metal Blades, and put a hand on his hip. He glanced at his brothers and partner for a moment and winked at them. “You know,” He called out, getting the animal robots’ attentions, “That’s really funny you say you’re on vacation. Because we’re actually on vacation, too. We just came back from the Jungle City and we were hiking…” He paused. “...through the Amazon. I mean, there’s only so much of this lush jungle left nowadays, right? Gotta see it all before it’s gone.” 

Quick blinked at Metal. Is that the route he’s going? He thought to himself. It better work out… If his hands were free, he’d cross his fingers in hopes that these robots were actually clueless enough to fall for his wiles. But instead… he looked down at the lifeless, fallen Robot Master in his arms. A pained, contorted expression was permanently etched onto his face, most likely because of the multitude of large, sharp needles impaled and buried into his circuits and wires. And yet… even though he was a Third Generation robot, something about how crumpled up he looked made his core sink into his chest a little.

The kappa robot blinked at Metal a couple of times, processing what he just said. The cutter robot could feel his eyes boring into him and if only he could sweat like Flash could… But to his surprise, the kappa robot exhaled sadly. “It’s true. Humans are truly terrible, cutting down this rainforest more and more every year.” But just as quickly as he was distracted, his eyes flared up with a strong emotion and he snapped his head back at Metal. “W-wait, though. If you’re on vacation, then why are you holding that dead robot?” He snapped at him, pointing at Snake Man in Quick’s arms. 

Quick jumped in place, having lost his train of thought and now faced the robot pointing at him. “O-oh, this guy?” Quick stammered awkwardly, before he paused. Oh. Oh right… He had almost forgotten how hard it was to lie on the spot. “H-he’s… uh…” 

“Hornet Man and Plant Man found him here and we wanted to get a better look at him.” Flash interjected, to the relief of Quick, but to the shock of Hornet and Plant from being put in the spotlight. 

“Oh.” The kappa robot said, “Why would--” 

“Dude! You were at the Jungle City?! We just came back from there, too!” The monkey robot cut over the kappa ‘bot excitedly. 

“Buster--” The kappa robot, irritated, tried to cut back in, but… 

“Oh yeah? What do you think of it so far? We spent the last couple of nights there,” Metal lied through his robotic teeth. “It’s just gorgeous, am I right?” 

“It’s one of the prettiest places I’ve ever seen! And I’ve been to the Himalayas before!” The monkey robot gushed. “Oh, and the FOOD here, it’s soooo good! The banana cakes, the drinks… don’t even get me started on the fish they serve here, oooohhh~” He was practically drooling with the warm memories of the food they tried earlier that day. 

“Oh, tell me about it. My partner here nearly ate the whole damn market we went to today.” Metal chuckled, Crash’s eyes widening before he pretended to wipe his mouth and grin at the three. “Well, he would’ve if it weren’t for half of the places there were sold out of their specialty dishes.” 

The monkey robot grinned and laughed at the Wilybots. “Hahahahaha, sorry! That was probably us! It was just too good~. Oh, please tell me you’ve at least tried the jaraqui.” 

Metal smirked behind his mask. “Oh man, I don’t think we have. You’d have to show us sometime. Maybe we can hang out and go out for dinner tonight. How’s that sound, boys?” Metal asked, looking behind himself at his family for emphasis. Quick grinned as Flash and Crash nodded, ‘agreeing’ with him and putting away their special weapons. Metal’s smirk widened as he faced the three robots. He looked over the two now. The pig and monkey ‘bots were smiling warmly at them and wiping away saliva that threatened to spill from their mouths at the temptation of delicious Brazilian food. Looks like he had them hooked. Bingo. Well, most of them. The kappa robot was looking confusedly between the monkey and pig, almost in disbelief. “Tell me now, have you tried their drinks? Some of that stuff is so sweet that I’m still tasting it _right now._ Plant, what was some of the stuff we tried again? I can’t pronounce it.” 

Plant was startled a bit at the mention of his name, before looking at all of them wide-eyed. “Ah… u-uhm… uh… we, uh, tried some, uh… a-açai mixes…?” He stammered, trying to think of multiple Amazonian tropical fruits off of the top of his head. 

“What’s that?” The pig bot asked. 

Hornet happily cut in. “Imagine a berry that’s more sweet than a blackberry, more tart than a raspberry, and the aftertaste tastes like chocolate. But now imagine a drink that tastes like açai berries.” 

“Oooooooohhh!” The monkey robot and Crash both gushed, looking at Hornet with huge eyes. The former turned to his pig bot friend and grinned a wide sharktooth grin. “We HAVE to try that tonight. No ‘but’s, we gotta.” 

“I-I actually know a place over in the city,” Plant began, a bit more confidently this time, “It’s right down by the river’s edge, and they serve both the best drinks in town as well as some of the freshest, most crisp _jaraqui frito_ I’ve ever had. A-and the whole menu has all kind of fish you can only get in this part of the jungle. And every night after 10, the whole place comes to life like it’s _Carnaval.”_ He explained, watching the three Robot Master’s eyes widen and become starry-eyed like it was Christmas in July. 

“Woah, really?!” The monkey bot said excitedly, turning to his two comrades. The pig bot’s eyes were wide with interest and eagerness, but the kappa bot glared at the both of them. 

“Really, truly.” Hornet added, smiling behind his mask. “I know that place he’s talking about. It’s one of the coolest spots in the city. We could always go there if you want!” 

“WOULD WE?! Count us in!” 

“It’s a date, then.” Quick said, smirking widely at the three. “Wanna meet up at the docks at 8 tonight in the city and then you guys, us, and Plant and Hornet here head over to the place for dinner? Also, what’s your names so we know who to look for?” 

“Don’t--” The kappa robot tried to say, but yet again, the monkey robot excitedly cut him off. 

“Of course!! I’m Buster Rod G, this sourface here is Mega Water S, and the big guy is Hyper Storm H!” Buster Rod G gushed, much to the aggravation and horror of Mega Water S. The kappa bot looked furious by now and was using every bit of his willpower to remain composed and calm. 

“Nice names, we’ll remember them.” Metal commented, before gesturing to himself casually. “Name’s Cut Man.” He pointed to Quick. “That’s Elec Man.” He gestured to Flash next. “That’s Time Man.” He then faced Crash and hesitated for a moment, picking a fake name. “...And that’s Bomb Man.” 

Hyper Storm H’s face morphed into surprise. “Wha-- No way. Are you four really Dr. Light’s Industrial robots?” He turned to Buster and Mega S. “Wow, I never thought we’d be meeting celebrities today. That’s really cool.” 

“Hey, you four wouldn’t mind helping us out, right? I mean, you guys are Lightbots, so I don’t really think you’d mind…” Buster asked, wringing his hands together a bit between his staff. “Have you seen any Wilybots around here lately? Our master gave us a few, uh, peculiar orders, if you ask me. We’re supposed to destroy the I.C. chip of any active Wilybot that we see.” 

The four Wilybots blinked at Buster Rod G wide-eyed. Flash began to sweat nervously. Metal’s audio receptor extensions twitched anxiously. Crash gulped and Quick blinked rapidly at them. 

“Nope.” Metal answered, smiling behind his mask again. “Haven’t seen any personally myself for quite a long time. How about you guys?” He was immediately met with vigorous head shaking from side to side. “Ah, jeez. That sucks. I’m sorry we can’t help you much there. I do wish you good luck on it, though!” 

“Aw, thank you,” Hyper said, before adding, “I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your hike! We’ll see you tonight at 8 at the docks, right?” 

“You got it!” Quick chirped at them, grinning. Although amongst his cheeriness, he was composing another silent message to his partner and brethren. 

[Qu: Holy shit I can’t believe this is working.] 

[Me: I’ll be honest, I didn’t think that’d work so well, either.] Metal smirked behind his mask again. 

[Qu: When the next opportunity rises, let’s book it the hell out of here.] 

[Fl: I’m with him on that.] 

[Cr: Aye!] 

[Me: Got it.]

“C’mon boys, let’s finish up our perimeter check and get ready for tonight! Keekeekeekee, ohhh, I can almost taste the fish already~!” Buster said to his comrades, the three of them turning around and beginning to head into the tropical thicket. However, a few seconds later… 

… 

… 

“BUSTER!!” 

“Whaaaat? What is it now-- EEK!!” Buster began, but yelped as Mega S whipped his hand across the monkey robot’s face the moment he turned around. Buster’s face morphed into a mixture of clueless confusion and clueless anger as he watched Mega S pull at what remained of his own strands of hair. 

“YOU!! IMBECILE!!” The kappa robot nearly screamed, earning an amused look from Quick, surprise from Crash, and causing every other robot in the vicinity to jump slightly from being startled. “YOU ARE THE REASON WHY I’M BALD!!” He yelled more at him, earning an amused expression from Flash now. 

“I thought it was because you’re a kappa--” Hyper began quietly. 

“SHUT UP!” Mega S yelled at the pig robot, before looking back at Buster. “Aren’t we forgetting something? Something IMPORTANT? LIKE OUR OBJECTIVE?!” If he weren’t wearing a mask, the world would’ve seen this Robot Master’s attempt at grinding his teeth into oblivion out of sheer anger. 

“WE DIDN’T FORGET, YOU NUMBSKULL!” Buster shouted back at him, lips curling upward and revealing more of his sharp robot teeth. “Find the renegade Wilybots and DESTROY them! That’s what we were tasked to do!” He barked at him. 

“Ughhhhh,” Mega S growled at him, “Not THAT objective, you STUPID APE! THE OTHER ONE! The reason why we’re in Brazil in the first place?! The reason why we set all these traps in this dead robot’s station in the first place?! Why we moved that Big Snakey Mk. III here in the first place?! DID THE MERE THOUGHT OF FOOD MAKE YOU FORGET ALREADY?!” 

“...” Buster remained quiet and blinked at Mega S as said robot slapped a hand against his face and pulled it down his face slowly. 

He glared at his incompetent partner. “BECAUSE. OF. THE SNAKE!” He screamed, pointing in the direction of the Wilybots. “SO THAT NOBODY TAKES THE SNAKE! Dr. Wily specifically ORDERED US to ensure that nobody can be able to just walk in here, take the snake, and then just get out with no problems whatsoever! HOW DID YOU BOTH FORGET THIS?! HOW DO YOU FORGET AN ORDER?! How many System 32 errors have you had this week, HUH?!” He angrily poked Buster’s chest for emphasis. 

“H-HEY!! I DID NOT HAVE ANY SYSTEM 32 ERROR! I’M JUST BUILT WITH THE ABILITY TO FORGET, SO THAT MAKES ME MORE ADVANCED THAN YOU!” Buster boasted, pounding a fist against his chest proudly. “So take that, you boring and cheap human childnapper!” 

“Ch-childnapper?!” Mega S sputtered at him, bewildered and confused. 

“YEAH, YOU HEARD ME! If I’m just a big dumb ape, then you’re a kappa, AND KAPPAS ARE JUST CREEPY BALD CHILDNAPPERS!” 

“Y-you!! I’M GONNA BEAT THE HELL OUT OF YOU AS SOON AS WE GET THE SNAKE BACK!” 

“Guys…” Hyper Storm H tried to cut in.

Mega Water S’s eyes sharpened and intensified on Buster Rod G, who bared his teeth and growled back at him. “In fact, I should be beating the hell out of you already! But NO! We couldn’t just get our orders done and over with! You had to see the town! Eat all the food with Hyper! Make friends with ANYONE you see and talk to! Go to dinner with them! Like you can do whatever you want! NEWSFLASH, BUSTER. We’re WILYBOTS, we can’t do that! We’re not supposed to do that because we have ORDERS! Wilybots can’t just do whatever they feel like doing! Actually-- no robot can really do that, not any I can think of off the top of my head.” 

“H-hey, guys?” Hyper asked, but ultimately was ignored. 

“JUST because we have orders doesn’t mean we have to immediately follow through with them the second they’re given out! We weren’t ordered to do that! Look around you, Mega! Can’t you at LEAST try to have a little fun while we’re here? Or have fun in general for once in your boring life? You could’ve at least had some of the food! You know like, half of the dishes we tried had cucumbers in it, right?” Buster explained defensively. 

“It’s not the same as the food I have back home, for one thing, and two, YOU LOOK AROUND!” Mega S barked back at Buster. “ALL OF OUR TRAPS ARE DESTROYED! THE SNAKEY’S DESTROYED! Gee, I wonder who could’ve done that?! MAYBE THE GUYS WHO WERE HOLDING OUR SNAKE! IT’S YOUR FAULT WHY THIS HAPPENED! And it’s your fault why they’re holding our objective right now! And IT’S GOING TO BE YOUR FAULT WHY THEY KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT US! AND IT’S GOING TO BE YOUR FAULT WHY DR. WILY IS GOING TO HAVE US SCRAPPED! BECAUSE YOU CAN’T REMEMBER ORDERS AND YOU’RE GOING TO TALK YOUR WAY INTO OUR MISSION’S FAILURE--” 

“Guys, they already left.” Hyper cut in casually, pointing beside the bickering two. Buster Rod G and Mega Water S immediately whipped their heads over to find nothing but hot, damp air filling the space where Quick Man, Crash Man, Metal Man, and Flash Man once stood. All that remained was Plant Man and Hornet Man watching the three of them with amused expressions on their faces. Buster and Mega S’s faces instantly shifted from annoyance and rage to slackjawed shock and minor horror. 

“WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!” Buster shrieked at the other two. “LET’S GET ‘EM! WE CAN’T LET THEM RUN AWAY! GO GO GO!” Almost as quickly as the monkey robot shouted his command, he and Mega Water S both took off after the Wilybots who had bolted away from the scene, following them far away to the original entrance to Snake Man’s station. 

“W-wait! What about me?!” Hyper Storm H called out and held a hand out a bit too late towards his comrades, before lowering it in defeat. There was absolutely no way that somebody of his build, size, or weight would be able to even begin to catch up with them. But… this wasn’t the first time this happened. He’s used to Mega Water S and Buster Rod G running off to places without him. Once again, he was all alone for the most part… … …except… 

He turned and faced Hornet Man and Plant Man slowly. They stared and blinked at him, and he parroted them for the most part. Neither party really knew what to say. 

“Uhhh…” Hyper droned blankly at them, before collecting his thoughts. “I’m… uh… I’m just… I’m gonna go after them, okay?” 

Plant Man shook his head. “I’m sorry, minha amiga, but I’m afraid that we cannot let you do that.” He warned, swapping one of his hands out with the end of his buster. He pointed it at Hyper Storm H. “Because of my duty as an Astilbot and my personal experience during the Sixth War, I cannot allow Dr. Wily or any of his (employed) underlings to get away with whatever he is plotting to do with Snake Man. We are not going to let him or any of you have your way this time.” 

“Not to mention that Dr. Wily is a dirty liar who can’t be trusted, too. I won’t let you or him hurt my friends!” Hornet added. They stepped in front of the pig robot, in battle-ready stances. 

Hyper blinked at them, his face souring into something menacing and aggravated. “You two best better get out of my way, or else I’ll make you get out.” He growled, his voice beginning to shake the air much harder. 

Plant pointed his buster at the pig robot and scowled at him. Hornet’s eyes sharpened and intensified. “Just try us.” The bee Robot Master growled back at him. 

“You asked for it!” Hyper yelled, before his eyes flared with energy. He then opened his mouth widely. Except that it kept opening wider, and wider, and wider… Plant wondered for a second how this Robot Master’s lower jaw hasn’t snapped off of his head yet. The next second later… before they knew it, Hornet was pulled right off of his feet by the sheer force of air rushing against him towards this Robot Master’s huge, gaping mouth. He was rapidly sliding towards Hyper and the bee Robot Master’s eyes widened huge. He was like a vacuum…! 

“P-Plant!!” He cried out in a panic. He jammed his hands into the dirt to try to stop his body from sliding towards the pig robot, but it was no use. His hands were simply dragging whatever dirt they tried to grasp. His breathing became light and erratic and he has absolutely no idea what Hyper was going to do once he got close enough to him, but he REALLY didn’t want to find out anytime soon. The closer he got to the pig robot, the more… unsightly and scary he looked. He desperately tried to secure himself against the ground and stop his sliding, but to no avail. 

…However, just before he got close enough, he felt something spiky and strong wrap around one of his arms and grip him extremely tight, stopping his momentum just in time. Hornet’s eyes widened and he glanced at his arm to find that a flexible and thorned, biomechanical vine had grabbed him and was holding him from being sucked in. He looked over at Plant and felt relief wash over his circuits. Said botanical Robot Master was firmly rooted into the ground via his feet as well as one of the vines that protruded from his back, too. The other vine from his back was what had grabbed Hornet just in time. 

The sight only aggravated the pig robot and he opened his mouth even wider and intensified the sucking of air and everything around him. Plant readjusted his grip on the ground and his eyes widened in recognition. “Hornet! Now!” He called out to him. 

Hornet looked at him confusedly amongst the panic. “W-what?” Plant pointed to the pig robot, and Hornet followed where he looked, before his eyes widened in recognition as well. 

“Give him everything you have!” Plant called out to him. 

“Right! Here goes nothing!” Hornet yelled. He adjusted himself and fully faced the pig robot, who glared down at him with furious eyes. But… those eyes immediately morphed from anger to shock the moment that the three hexagonal panels that comprise the front of Hornet Man’s chest armor suddenly opened up, and out of the three holes shot out dozens upon dozens of miniature hornet-like robots in a massive swarm. All wielding extremely large and sharp stingers. 

Hyper Storm H would’ve ceased his sucking and uttered ‘Oh shit’, had it not been for every single bee robot that Hornet released immediately entering his mouth and engaging in a violent stinging-and-stabbing frenzy within him. The sounds of extremely loud bee-like buzzing drowned out his yelps and cries of pain. 

He fell over to the ground on his side, crumpled, defeated, and full of bees. The ground shook for a moment. 

Hornet breathed heavily, mostly out of shock and the adrenaline-esque rush that came over him in the past minute. Plant walked over to his friend and released his grip on Hornet’s arm, and then held his own hand out to the bee Robot Master. Said bee Robot Master looked up to him with widened, but soon euphoric eyes and grabbed his hand. Plant pulled him up to his feet, only to get lifted up into Hornet’s arms and crushed in a warm, all-encompassing hug. 

“THAT WAS AWESOME!!” Hornet gushed, his eyes sparkly and starry. “Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh PLANT THAT WAS SO COOL WE WERE BOTH COOL YOU’RE SO AMAZING AND STRONG AND AWESOME AND THANK YOU FOR SAVING ME AND--” 

“H-Hornet, p-por favor!! Y-you’re crushing me--!” Plant managed to wheeze out. Hornet immediately loosened his hold on him but he didn’t let go of him. Hornet happily nuzzled him instead, causing Plant to blush again. “B-but you’re right. W-we w-were pretty cool just then, I think… ahahaha~...” He said breathlessly, giving Hornet a shy smile. 

“WE TOTALLY WERE! Aaaaaah!” Hornet gushed, before looking at their fallen enemy. Hyper Storm H was twitching on the ground by now. Hornet sneered at him behind his mask. “Hey, pig robot! Your Special Weapon SUCKS! Hahahaha~! Get it? _Sucks?”_ He turned back to Plant, who now was giving him a completely deadpanned look. 

“Put me down this instant.” He said. 

“I-I’m sorry.” Hornet stammered, carefully putting him back on the ground. 

 

~~~~~

A red blur zoomed past the station with ease and in mere moments, was already at the open clearing that was fully and completely engulfed all around by the tall, thick Amazonian rainforest. Quick skidded to a halt and wildly looked around and immediately found what he was looking for. That fairly new looking jeep now had a second jeep parked behind it, but he didn’t care about that. He bolted towards the first jeep and threw the lifeless body of Snake Man into the shotgun seat. He then turned around and headed back towards the station to look for his brethren. 

He found them in less than a few seconds. The three of them were running as fast as they could, but Metal was striding ahead of Crash and Flash, so Quick grabbed and lifted him up into his arms first. “Wha--?! AAAH!” Metal yelped as Quick bolted as fast as he could back to the cars and threw Metal into the back seat. 

He went for Crash next, and then finally Flash, setting the temporal robot down next to the shotgun seat. “Flashy, can ya hold Snake Eyes for me?” Quick asked, hopping through the window into the driver’s seat. Flash got into the passenger seat, buckled himself in, and held Snake in his arms and lap. Quick took a deep breath. “We did it, boys! We’ve got a real good lead in front of them, so all we gotta do now is…” He paused. Wait.

Wait a second. Cars need keys to start. 

“SHIT!” Quick cursed, banging his metallic red hands against the car’s dashboard. “We don’t have keys to start this thing!” He turned and faced his family. “Okay, does anybody here know how to hotwire cars and _fast?”_ He asked. 

“I’ve got something better than that. Hold on.” Metal answered, leaning forward to the front half of the jeep. Without warning, he summoned a Metal Blade and suddenly smashed into the car’s ignition and twisted it. And miraculously, the jeep suddenly roared to life, its engine purring loudly. Quick stared at the Metal Blade buried halfway into the car. 

“H-how the hell did you do that? WHY DOES THAT _WORK?”_ Quick asked in complete disbelief and bewilderment, looking at the cutter robot. Metal simply shrugged. 

“I don’t know, it just does!” 

“Good enough for me then!” Quick said, instinctively reaching his right hand down and to his relief, feeling the familiar touch of a stick shifted into the Park Gear. _Thank god it’s manual,_ he thought. 

“Quick, do you know how to drive?” Crash asked the speedy robot. 

Said speedster paused, and then turned his head towards the drillbot. He had the biggest possible smirk on his face. He chuckled. 

“Pssshhh, _do I know how to drive.”_ He said, turning back to the road. Flash then turned to Metal and Crash. 

“Metal, you should probably hold Crash really tight.” The temporal robot warned the two. “Quick’s the one who taught me how to drive in the first place. And the way he drives is… uh… j-just get ready.” 

“Yeah, ‘get ready’ alright. Get ready to BLAST THROUGH TIME!” Quick yelled excitedly, shifting the stick shift into the 1st Gear and slamming his foot against the gas pedal. The jeep roared to life as the tires in the rear of the jeep spun as fast as they could, nearly rocketing the four of them ahead. Metal and Crash instantly were pushed into the backseat, or rather, nearly fell out of the back of the car, since it was topless and the backseats were also significantly shorter than the front seats. Metal immediately threw his arm over Crash to hold him down. 

The car accelerated faster and faster, and Quick soon shifted it into 2nd Gear, and soon 3rd Gear. Right as they were about to cross the entrance to the dilapidated green station, a familiar monkey robot jumped in front of them. Quick’s eyes intensified and he sported a wicked grin as he pushed the car to go even faster. “Q-Quick?!” Flash yelped, bracing himself. 

“GOOD.” Quick said. He didn’t care about whether or not he hit Buster Rod G with their vehicle, but no matter what happens, that robot’s about to _eat his dust._

Just as the car was about to slam into a surprised Buster Rod G, a white hand reached out and grabbed his tail, yanking him backwards and out of the way. Both him and Mega Water S were instantly caked in the car’s dust and kicked-up dirt, leaving them coughing. 

“Y-you idiot! Are you trying to get yourself killed already?! Come on!” Mega S barked at him, running towards the other jeep. Buster simply coughed in response and followed him. He jumped into the shotgun seat as Mega S took the driver’s seat and jammed his own pair of keys into the ignition. The jeep hummed to life and the two immediately sped off after the Wilybots. 

The Wilybot’s jeep sped down the dirt road ahead of them, having abandoned both Hornet, Plant, Hyper, and the old, destroyed battle station behind them. Flash looked behind them before looking back at Quick. “Quick, they’re following us.” He said worriedly. “Do you know where we’re going?” 

“Nope! Don’t know, but that’s not important. We just gotta shake these guys off’a us first,” Quick answered, before shifting into 4th Gear and looking into the rearview mirror. “Huh. So you think you can keep up with me?” He murmured to no one in particular, smirking wider to himself. He revved the car and pushed the pedal full throttle, zooming down the dirt path. 

For the most part, this particular road was a near-straight line, with many hills in between. But Quick Man did not care about hills, nor did he care about braking whatsoever. He only wanted to go faster and faster, despite all the air-time their jeep was getting from the sheer speed they blasted down the dirt road at. And to his surprise and impression, Mega Water S didn’t care either. 

“C’MON! Can’t this thing go any faster?! We’re almost caught up to them!” Buster howled at his comrade, who only pushed their jeep harder and went faster. They couldn’t be at least the distance of five cars away from them… “We have to catch those Lightbots!” 

“They’re not Lightbots!” Mega S growled back. “If they were Lightbots, why would they try to help us out, AND THEN try to run away with our snake?!” 

“W-wait! You mean, they lied to us?!” 

“YOU DUMBASS, OF COURSE THEY LIED TO US! THOSE ARE THE WILYBOTS WE’RE LOOKING FOR!” 

“THEY LIED TO US?!” Buster yelped again in disbelief, looking a little hurt. But soon enough, his hurt expression morphed into a primal rage. He snarled and bared his sharp teeth again. “FLOOR IT, MEGA!” 

“What do you think I’ve been doing?!” Mega S snapped at him. He glared at the car that they were in hot pursuit of. _Come on,_ he thought, _we just need this road to keep going straight a little bit more and we’ll catch up with them…_

“Quick? Q-Quick, they’re catching up to us…” Metal said worriedly, staring behind himself at the speeding jeep that was getting closer and closer to them. “Can’t this thing go any faster…?” 

“It can, but I don’t want to push this car too hard. I don’t know its limits, and this ain’t exactly a race car, ya know!” Quick retorted, watching the jeep through the rearview mirror again. _Come on,_ he thought, _a corner, a ramp, anything! How long does this road go straight for?! I can’t shake them if they’re faster than us on the straightaways!_ His eyes flitted back to the road ahead of him, and his eyes widened. That’s… that’s it! _PERFECT!_ Quick’s lips curled upward into an excited grin. 

Ahead of them was a fork in the road. The right path kept going straight, but the left path veered off in a sharp turn. However, surrounding the left turn was a multitude of signs showing visual signals of guardrail-less roads ahead and plenty of ditches. One particular sign read **‘INCOMPLETO’** in clear, bold text. 

“Everybody hold onto something tight!” Quick suddenly shouted at his brethren. 

“Oh god,” Flash breathed nervously. He stuffed Snake Man’s body into the small space around his feet before grabbing onto the side of the car for dear life. Metal held Crash against the backseat again in one arm and grabbed the back of the car with the other arm.

Quick downshifted back to 3rd Gear and pressed hard against the gas pedal, revving up the RPMs of the jeep almost to its very maximum for that gear. He carefully watched the Genesis Unit’s jeep catch up to them. They were about three cars-length away from them now… _Perfect,_ he thought. That turn was rapidly approaching them. Quick held his breath. 

… 

The turn was getting uncomfortably close now for most of Quick’s family. “Q-Quick…!” Flash breathed sharply. 

“Go!” Quick commanded himself, spinning the steering wheel harshly and veering the car to the right. 

“Perfect! Idiots!” Mega S grinned behind his mask. He followed them and turned the car slightly to the right. 

_And… NOW!_ Quick mentally commanded himself. A split second after veering to the right, he spun the steering wheel as far left as he could. He immediately felt the jeep’s back tires lose traction and give out, and despite the road and the jeep’s weight, its body slid to the slide and sharply drifted into the left turn. Quick pressed the gas pedal multiple times, playing with the throttle to balance it out as the jeep’s engine roared loudly, before the car began to pick up its velocity and speed again. 

“What?!” Mega S sharply inhaled and exclaimed. _Wow, that drift…!_ “A feint drift?!” _Oh god. Oh god we’re too close to the turn…! We’re not gonna make it! We’re gonna get scrapped!_ Mega S thought in a panic.

“WHO CARES-- TURN THE CAR NOW!!” Buster screeched at him. Mega S, in a panic, reached for the handbrake and held it up for a second before veering the steering wheel harshly to the left. Their jeep entered a sharp E-brake drift, just barely making the turn. The kappa robot blinked, wide-eyed at the stunt he just pulled. 

“Aha… ahahahaha! We actually made the turn! Holy shit!” Mega S laughed in manic relief to himself. 

Buster grinned at him. “Of course, we did! You always could! You’re the best driver I know! Kekekee!” And then for once in Mega Water S’s life, he retracted his beak-like mask and flashed Buster Rod G of all robots a small smile his way. Said monkey Robot Master’s eyes widened, and he grinned at his comrade. “You oughta do that more often~! Now come on, let’s get these scrapheads!” Buster chirped enthusiastically. 

“Whooooaaaa! QUICK, THAT WAS COOL!” Crash gushed at his scarlet brother. “I don’t even care that we almost fell out of the car, THAT WAS REALLY AWESOME!” 

“Oh god, we almost fell out of the car…” Metal muttered, hand on his chest and trying to regulate the rhythm of his breathing again. 

Quick looked at Crash through the rearview mirror and grinned widely at him. “Oh yeah, you like that? Well, I’ve got good news for ya, Crashy! Look in front of you!” 

The orange Robot Master peered in front of him and his eyes widened. Before them was a massive dip in the land before a rather tall hill, with a dirt road snaking all through it in various turns curving and wrapping around tall, immovable trees, thicket, and rather deep-looking ponds. 

“Looks like we’ve got some downhill to tackle before the uphill climb,” Quick said eagerly, before his grin intensified. “This is gonna be great.” He muttered to himself, looking ahead and scrutinizing the road ahead. A left turn coming up, a long right turn, 2 hairpin turns, and another wide left turn before the land flattens and starts to turn uphill. “Flashy, sweetheart? Be my second eyes for me?” He asked his partner. 

Flash looked at Quick, who was completely focused on the road for once. Oh… oh, he’s absolutely serious right now. “Of course!” He said, focusing on the road ahead of them. 

Alright… Quick thought. I got this. There’s nothing I can’t do. We’re gonna make it through this. I can’t hold back now! Robot Masters keep racing _no matter what._

“Hold on again!” Quick said, speeding up to the first turn. A downhill left turn… just a couple of seconds before the turn actually began, Quick accelerated to full throttle and turned the steering wheel to the left. At the same time, kicked the clutch pedal next to the brake pedal, causing the back tires to lose their grip and traction again. He counter-steered slightly and then balanced his steering to maintain a much smoother drift than the last one. The car’s engine roared again while the back tires kicked up clouds of murky dust and dirt. Flash and Metal held on for dear life as Crash threw himself on top of Metal in an attempt to not fall out of the car this time. The car drifted outwards a bit too close to the edge for Quick’s comfort, but it’ll do right now! He has to maintain as high of a speed as he can! He has to be the quickest he’s ever been! 

The first corner was done quickly and thankfully without any casualties. Flash turned around to check on Metal and Crash. “Is everyone okay?” He asked the two of them, before laying eyes on Metal sprawled out in the backseat, and Crash who somehow had gotten himself in an upside-down position. “...Close enough,” he murmured to himself before looking at his scarlet partner, “Quick, you’re doing great so far…!” 

“Psssh,” Quick pursed his lips, “I coulda had more control in that turn. But thanks, Flashy~ If you like that, wait ‘till you see this next one!” He teased, before accelerating harder again and shifting the stick back into 4th gear. He veered in the opposite direction first before flooring it and turning the steering wheel to the right, entering another strong feint drift. He played with the throttle and focusing on his steering to hold out the drift as long as he could while maintaining a certain minimum speed and RPMs. He couldn’t help himself as his mouth contorted upwards into a huge smile. Now THIS was a great drift, if he could say so himself~. He glanced at Flash, hoping he was enjoying this as much as him, but instead, Flash looked dumbfounded and distracted by something. “Flashy? What’s up?” 

“T-they… how did they catch up to us?!” He said, flabbergasted. Metal whipped his head around and looked behind their car. 

“Oh shit, what!” Metal said in surprise. 

Quick’s eyes widened and he glanced at the rearview window. Right behind them… was the other jeep, sliding just as fast as they were, also at just as sexy an angle as he was sliding his own car! “Oh shit,” Quick breathed, “He’s good…” And then Quick smirked again. If all of his drifts were like this, he wouldn’t mind doing a few races with this guy. Well, if both parties survive today, that is. 

Mega S focused on the road, but he barked regardless to his comrade. “Buster, I’m close enough to them! Do something!” 

“On it~! Keekeekeekee~!” Buster said, before hopping up to his feet and standing on his seat. It took only but a moment to recalibrate his balance, and he gripped Mega S’s arm with his tail. He wielded his staff and put a foot against the jeep’s dashboard, before extending his staff out towards the Wilybots’ jeep. 

Metal’s eyes widened huge and he leaned back to dodge the staff tip flying towards them at a dangerous speed. Instead of hitting an old cutter robot, the staff tip penetrated and shattered the front windshield. However, the jeep’s driver didn’t flinch or screw up his drift. “What the shit!” Quick yelled. “Metal! Crash! Stop that monkey, he’s gonna trash our ride!” 

“S-shit, Y-YEAH, OKAY!” Metal yelped, before clambering up onto his knees on the seat and leaning over the back of the car. Crash did the same and leaned on one arm while he pointed and tried to aim a revving drill at their enemies’ car. Metal held on with one hand and summoned a Metal Blade in the other. He and Crash looked at each other and nodded. Metal threw his Metal Blade and Crash fired his Crash Bomber. 

The Metal Blade tore through the air and buried itself into Buster’s leg, but the monkey robot didn’t flinch or care in the slightest. Metal’s eyes widened. “What’s he made of…?” He asked, bewildered. The Crash Bomber missed Buster completely and blew up a part of the dirt road behind them, but that didn’t stop Crash from firing. He shot another one, which missed again, and then another, which buried itself into Buster’s gut and blinked orange and white. Direct hit. Crash grinned a sharktooth grin. 

The monkey Robot Master froze, retracted his staff and looked down at himself. “Oh, look at that,” he casually commented, “I’ve been impaled.” 

“Excuse me--?” Mega S began to say. 

BOOOOM!! 

The jeep tailing behind them slowed down as a huge eruption of black smoke erupted from both Buster Rod G and the Crash Bomber that dug into him and exploded. Metal looked at Crash and retracted his mask to reveal what a large smile he had on his face. “CRASH, THAT WAS AMAZING! You blew him to bits!” He breathed excitedly. 

“I KNOW!! I BLEW HIM UP!” Crash gushed back, grinning so widely and giddily. He let loose a string of manic giggles right after that, which Metal couldn’t help but find oddly endearing and cute when it should’ve been unnerving. If they weren’t speeding towards who knows where at full speed in the middle of a drift…. 

“Did we lose them?!” Quick asked from the front of the car excitedly. 

“I think we did!” Metal said, but looked behind himself anyways just to confirm. ...And immediately was jabbed in the face hard with an extending metallic staff. He lost his balance and fell over. “NEVERMIND.” He yelled. 

Crash looked behind them now and saw the car that he thought had blown up seconds ago, speeding up to them again. And next to its driver… Buster Rod G seemed completely fine, other than small indent the burrowing part of his Crash Bomber had created in his abdomen area. “What?!” He yelped. He pointed his arm at the offending monkey robot again. “You piece of scrap!! Blow up when I put bombs in you!” He barked irritably at the Genesis Unit. 

In an instant, Metal was back up again, chucking more Metal Blades at the Robot Master. Buster Rod G, however, took both Crash Bombers and Metal Blades with ease, as if they were as weak as Megaman’s puny pea shooter of a default weapon. Buster traded these blows easily with whacks and jabs of his staff, trying and failing to skewer the two Robot Masters he was engaged in an extremely deadly weapon shootoff with. Whilst in two jeeps power drifting at max speed downhill a treacherous dirt road with no guardrails. 

However, both sides of the fight were abruptly thrown off and to the side when the jeeps ended their drifts, speeding up to the next corner… the double hairpin turns… Quick kept accelerating, though. Flash gripped the car as hard as he could and gulped, sweating nervously. I have to trust him, I have to trust Quick, he has to drive fast, that’s how he’s gonna get us out of here, he thought to calm himself down. 

Just as they were reaching the first hairpin turn, Quick decelerated and then downshifted again, before pulling the handbrake in his turn, sharply drifting around the hairpin turn a bit sloppily. The scarlet Robot Master scowled at himself. He felt so, so rusty at this, and of course right now when it mattered the most! He accelerated towards the second hairpin turn and tried again, only to yield essentially the same results. Oh… Ohhhh, that’s it. He’s gonna find a way to practice when he gets home… He checked the rearview mirror again. At least the Genesis Unit’s car couldn’t drift as quickly or sharply around those hairpin turns, and they got some distance from them again. Still, even so… He could drive so much better than this, he KNOWS that he has before! 

“Alright…” Quick breathed to himself. “One more turn. Flashy, what’s coming up after this?” 

Flash looked ahead and focused on zooming his optics in for a better view. “After this turn? The road, uh, is paved once we go uphill, and uh… there’s a corner and after that… Oh!” Flash’s eyes widened. The incomplete road before them hugged the approaching steep hill before it lead out to a highway road not too far, one that was elevated up high, directly above the river and rainforest down below. “We make it to a highway. Q-Quick, I don’t think we have much time left…” 

“I know, I know! I’m trying to think of how to lose ‘em!” Quick said, scowling and glancing at the Genesis Unit through his side mirrors. He really didn’t expect any member of the Genesis Unit to be so skilled at driving, especially after witnessing how incompetent they were earlier. It was both impressive and shocking to him. He really did wish that they didn’t have to meet like this, fighting over Snake Man’s dead body. He would’ve loved to have meet this guy on the racetrack instead… or at the dinner that they promised them earlier in the day. Well, it’s a bit too late to really change any of their minds now. If one of them’s going to lose and go out just like that, they might as well go out having fun at least. He smirked to himself. That’s the ideal way he’d want to die, anyways. To end it having fun, end it in style, to go out with a bang…~ 

Wait. Quick’s CPU paused. Go out with a bang? 

The gears in his mind turned carefully. He looked down at his dashboard. They were close to running out of gas… He was pushing the jeep as fast as it could go on these turns already… He then suddenly whipped his head around and looked at Crash Man for a second. 

Go out with a bang… He looked down at the car again. His eyes widened suddenly. _Go out with a bang…?!_

“I HAVE AN IDEA!” Quick yelled suddenly, before entering another clutch kick drift on the last downhill corner. The car slid out slideways and drifted beautifully down the long, left corner. Quick pushed the gas pedal full throttle halfway through the turn, not caring about whether or not the Genesis Unit’s car was tailing right behind them. 

“What’s your idea?!” Flash, Metal, and Crash asked excitedly, all while trying to hold on for dear life to anything since Quick was only accelerating harder. 

“Okay, it’s really stupid, and you’re gonna hate it, Flashy. Just warning you right now!” Quick began. 

“I don’t care, tell me anyways! It can’t be that bad!” Flash said supportively. 

“Okay, well, I need you to use your Time Stopper--” 

“No way,” Flash interjected. 

“B-but!” Quick said. 

“Bad idea, I can’t use it,” Flash nervously objected. 

“Come on, Flash, I know you don’t wanna use it around me, but it’s the only way I think this is gonna work! The only way we’re gonna get them off of our asses!” 

“Quick, I refuse to use it near you. I-I-I can’t, I won’t!” Said temporal robot stammered. 

“Please? Please, just this one time Flash! I’m gonna be okay! We’re gonna be okay!” Quick begged him while never taking his eyes off of the road. 

“No, Quick! I won’t hurt you!” Flash said, growing more and more worried and upset and looking at his scarlet partner. 

“PLEASE! It’s just one time! I won’t hate you for it! I’m gonna be alright! Your Time Stopper doesn’t even _-hurt me-_ hurt me…!” 

“But that’s the thing! I’M gonna hate me because of it! What if I end up deactivating you by accident?!” 

“I promise you, Flash. I promise you that it’s going to be 200% worth it in the end.” Quick reassured him. Flash paused and stared at Quick. A look of distress and upset was etched onto his face. “I promise you that everything’s going to turn out fine. It’s going to be okay.” The temporal robot went quiet and thought about it. “I’m gonna be okay… The worst that can happen to me is that I deactivate, but even then, I know I’ll be okay because I know you and Metal and Crash would take care of me.” 

Flash let out a worried groan and glanced over at Metal and Crash… His eyes widened when he realized how many rather deep-looking punctures and holes were poked into their chest armors and abdomens from Buster Rod G’s staff. When he met his eyes with the both of them, they nodded their heads, as if to confirm Quick’s statement. 

“Whatever Quick has planned, it’s probably going to be safer anyways if your Time Stopper’s involved,” Metal reassured the blue Robot Master. 

“This wouldn’t be the first time you’re saving us because of your weapon anyways.” Crash said supportively, before flashing Flash a sharktooth grin and-- oh. Crash was missing a few teeth… “We’re in this together, right? We can make it! Even if Quick passes out on us!” 

Flash frowned and tried to ease his circuits from racing as intensely as Quick was driving the jeep they all were seated in. He breathed deeply a few times and tried hard to ignore the heavy reality of him having to hurt his beloved. The jeep soon ended its drift and Quick revved the engine loudly as he sped uphill. He shifted into 4th Gear now. Flash took another deep breath, closing his eyes. “How long do you need me to stop time for?” 

“The whole 20 seconds.” Quick answered for him. 

“...Oh god.” Flash squeaked, his circuits flooding with anxiety and worry again. 

“What are we even doing that Flash needs to stop time that long for?” Metal asked from the backseat. 

“OKAY. Okay, so here’s my idea,” Quick began, accelerating harder up the hill. That lone corner was fast approaching them… “We’re gonna keep going up this hill as high as we can go and when I say ‘now’, I need Crashy to shoot a Crash Bomber right under our car so we go flying off the road. And then Flashy uses his Time Stopper to make sure that we all land in the river below this hill instead of blowing up in the car when it hits the ground. Sound good?” 

“WHAT?!?” Everybody screamed at Quick. 

“Think about it!” Quick continued. “Didja see the way that they’ve been driving after us? Constantly tailing us and trying to copy our moves?” The scarlet Robot Master smirked. “We’re the leader of this line. If there’s even the tiniest chance that they’ll try to follow us off of the road, I wanna go for it. Even if they don’t chase us off the road, we’ll be far away enough from them to make a decent escape. We can just follow the river ‘til we hit a city and then steal another car--” 

“Quick, you’re insane. You and Flash both are insane, and this is coming from me! Again!” Crash said. 

“Well, we might be insane, but they’re stupid. And I’m completely ready to take advantage of that, hahahaha!” Quick laughed. The corner was right in front of them now, and Quick shifted into 5th Gear and accelerated even faster. He entered another drift around the corner at max speed, and compared to every other drift he’s pulled, this time the tires loudly screeched and caused billowing clouds of white smoke to rise from said tires. “Is everybody ready and okay with this?!” 

“I mean… we don’t really have any other options!” Metal said nervously. It was either veer off this high road, keep going and ultimately get caught after they take the ramp to the highway, or get blown up either way by… He looked behind them and saw that the Genesis Unit’s car had entered a drift at almost the same speed and angle as their car. They were so close to them, too…!

“Oh god. Oh god… oh god oh god oh god,” Flash hyperventilated, looking over the edge of the guardrail-less road. They were so high up already…! But soon, he felt a metallic, burgundy hand pat his back and gently rub his shoulder a little bit. 

“We’re gonna be okay, Flash.” Metal said. “You’re gonna do great. I know you can. Just believe in yourself.” 

“Metal Blades’ got the right idea here,” Quick said, turning his head and shooting Flash a quick, soft smile. “I believe in you, Flashy. I’ve always have.” He glanced at Crash through the rearview mirror. “Crash, get ready!” 

“R-right-!” Crash yelped, turning around and leaning over the back of the jeep. He felt a pair of arms wrap around him from behind. 

“I’ve got you, Crash.” He heard Metal tell him from behind. 

“I can do this, I can do this, we’re going to be okay, everything’s going to work out,” Flash nervously told himself, reaching down and grabbing Snake Man’s body and holding him in his buster arm. He began to charge his Time Stopper and said buster arm soon glowed white. 

“M-Metal, can I tell you something?” Crash nervously stammered. He pointed one of his drills as close as he could to the underside of the car. 

“What is it? You can tell me anything.” 

“...I’m scared. I-I’m actually really scared.” He admitted to him. 

“I know. You’ve got good reason to be scared, since we’re all about to fly soon. But I’ll be right there with you the whole time, okay? I won’t let go of you. When we start falling, just look at me, alright…?” Metal gently assured him. 

Crash shakily nodded. “O-okay. I-I will.” 

“Okay everyone, here we go!” Quick yelled as the corner finally ended, except the speedy Robot Master counter-steered and swung the jeep out the other way. The jeep slowed down for just a moment, and Quick grinned to himself. He took one hand off of the steering wheel, held it up as high as he possibly could, and then proceeded to flip the car behind them the most glorious middle finger in history. “NOW, CRASH!” Quick barked, speeding up the car as fast as possible in the opposite direction of the turn, heading straight for the edge of the road. 

Metal held Crash tighter. Said drillbot aimed his drill as close to underneath the back of the car as could and shot out a Crash Bomber as fast and as hard as he could. 

BOOOOOOOM!! 

Mega S growled and turned red in the face with anger at Quick’s finger flip. “That cocky piece of scrap!! YOU’RE NOT GETTING AWAY THAT EASILY!” He screeched, before veering the car off of the road after them. Their jeep didn’t nearly reach as much altitude and distance as the jeep they chased, and Mega S hadn’t realized the gravity of his actions until he began to feel the gravity of Earth. 

“MEGA!! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GET OUT OF THIS?!” Buster shrieked at him, looking down at the forest that seemed so much smaller to them now, except now it was growing bigger and bigger quite rapidly. 

“...” Mega Water S blinked at Buster Rod G, processing what just happened and what he had just done. His only response was to start screaming hysterically. Buster immediately joined him and they held each other as they plummeted down into the forest. Less than a minute later, a magnificent, huge explosion erupted from a part of the rainforest. 

“F-Flash!! FLASH!!” Quick yelled for his partner. The sheer power and force of the Crash Bomber shot point blank at the road not only destroyed that piece of the road, but had also destroyed the back bumper and tires of the jeep. It had also launched the jeep hundreds of feet higher and longer out than how a car would’ve normally catapulted. In these fleeting moments, the Wilybots were flying. 

And in the next moment, were plummeting towards the Earth. Metal, still holding Crash, began to fall out of the backseats of the jeep. Flash reluctantly and anxiously took their suddenly descent as his cue. White lights traveled up his body in circuit branch patterns until they collected at his head. “I’M SORRY!” He yelled. He unleashed his Time Stopper, as well as a brilliant flash that placed twinkling sparkles everywhere in the air around them. In that moment, everything stopped. 

_**20 seconds left.**_

Flash took a deep breath and looked around himself. The sky and the land around him had become completely still. It was almost picture-esque, as if he had jumped into a postcard. He let go of Snake Man hesitantly, and to his relief, he simply floated in place, in the exact same position that Flash had left him. 

_**19 seconds left.**_

Quick was frozen in place as if he had become a statue, crushing the steering wheel from how tightly he was gripping it. A look of simultaneous excitement and fear was etched onto his face. He needed to get Quick as far away from himself as possible, as fast as possible. He immediately crawled over to his partner in the now almost-vertical jeep and unbuckled him from his seat belt. He then ripped his hands away from the crushed steering wheel, and grabbed him by the waist. He easily lifted him and after counting to three in his head, threw Quick as far out towards the river below as he could. 

Or rather, Quick began to fly in that direction, but ultimately slowed to a stop in mid-air within the stillness of everything. 

_**13 seconds left.**_

Flash then crawled up the jeep to where Metal and Crash had begun to fly in the air above the jeep. It took a moment for him to gain his balance, but he stood atop of the jeep and reached out for the two frozen Robot Masters. 

_**10 seconds left.**_

“Come on!” Flash hissed to himself. He reached his hand as far out as he could. He was so close to grabbing Crash’s leg…! He growled, baring his shark-like teeth, before he lightly jumped to grab his foot. …And nearly lost his balance. He yelped, but pulled down Metal and Crash. He hefted them into his arms and-- OH GOD, their combined weight was so heavy! Flash used all of his strength he could muster to throw them in the direction of the river below them. 

_**2 seconds left.**_

Wait. 

What about himself and Snake Man?! Flash’s eyes widened huge in a panic and did the first thing that came to his mind. He leapt down and grabbed Snake’s body, landing on the front hood of the jeep. 

_**1 second left.**_

He bent his knees a little, before jumping as far forward from the car he could, with Snake Man in tow. 

_**Time resumed.**_

And like that, the world around him began to move again. Unfortunately, that included himself and his family. Below him, Quick’s body was unmoving and limp, but plummeted down towards the river regardless. Above him, he heard Crash screaming bloody murder. And now Metal was screaming, too. The rush of air whipping against his face, the Earth growing larger and larger before his very huge eyes, the sensation of harsh vertigo in his core and robotic stomachs all were part of the cause that lead to him unleashing a loud, fearful scream of his own. With every second, the river grew closer and closer, and more enormous and all-encompassing and… 

… 

… 

… 

… 

 

~~~~~

… 

… 

…sh… 

Darkness. Absolute darkness encompassed him. There wasn’t a single thing to see or look at. 

…shhh… 

…aaash… 

But he could hear something… What was it... ? 

“…lash… … … … …ake… …p…” 

A voice. He could hear a voice faintly growing louder and clearer. What was it saying…? He could also hear something else. His audio receptors picked up on a sound, no, a couple of sounds. Birds screeching. And the sound of sloshing water… 

Suddenly he felt chills throughout his body, he had just realized he was submerged in something. 

“...Flash… come on, Flash…” 

Somebody was calling his name. 

“Flashy… Flashy, please wake up…” 

No, wait. He knew exactly whose voice that was. That was the voice he loved more than any other in the world. 

Flash opened his eyes groggily, and slowly recalibrated and refocused his optics. Before him was nothing but the sky setting in a gorgeous mixture of red and blue hues. He blinked a few times. Beside him, the same voice spoke out again, in an exhausted tone. 

“Good mornin’, sweetheart. Have a nice sleep…?” 

Flash turned his head to the side and found Quick leaning tiredly against him. Despite how drained and weak he looked, his expression morphed into relief, and then tired bliss. Flash couldn’t help but smile back at him. “Did you just say ‘please’ before…?” He joked quietly.

Quick chuckled breathlessly, smiling widely at him. “I said ‘please’ a lot today, where were you?” 

“I don’t know, but I’m so upset now. I can’t believe I missed it,” Flash cracked, before laughing tiredly. Quick couldn’t help but laugh, too. And so did Metal. Flash then turned his head to the other side to see Metal pushing him lightly with one arm. In his other arm, he held Crash up. The poor drillbot was sinking so much, even while being held by Metal, that only his head peeked out of the water. And then Flash realized he was floating in water. 

He looked around confusedly. He was definitely floating in the Amazon River… “H-how long have I been out?” He hesitantly asked. 

“Only half an hour,” Quick answered. The temporal robot felt relief wash over his circuits. “Can you do us a biggie and just keep floating like that?” 

“U-uhhh… o-okay. Where’s Snake Man?” Flash asked. 

“I’ve got him, don’t worry.” Quick reassured him, lifting his free arm up to reveal Snake Man in his grasp. He then smiled warmly and tiredly at him. “We did it, Flashy. We got Snake Eyes and got away from those morons with him. I’m so, so proud of you. Like holy shit, you’ve got no idea. You were amazing, Flashy~.” 

Flash’s eyes widened a little, before he returned the warm smile. “R-really…?” 

Quick nodded. “Mhm. You saved our asses, and ya didn’t knock me out either. We couldn’t have done it without ya. … …Actually, we couldn’t have done it without Crashy either.” On the other side of him, Crash beamed and grinned widely while trying his best not to sink into the water. “We couldn’t have done it without any of us. We’re all awesome~...!” 

“Ya damn right. We all did amazing today.” Metal happily agreed. “Boy, do we have a story to tell everybody back home now, hahahaha…~” 

“Hey… speaking of that,” Flash suddenly realized, “Where are we heading?” 

“Look over there,” Quick said, gesturing with his head again somewhere behind Flash. Said blue Robot Master looked up and in his upside down vision, he easily spotted the long and clean white highway, towering high above them, as well as a ramp. “When we get up there, we’re gonna steal a car and rest as soon as possible. And who knows, maybe after that, we can finally have some fun while we’re down here~.” He added, smiling widely and winking cutely. 

Flash’s core fluttered at how handsome and cute his partner was when he smiles and winks like that. His voice nearly caught in his throat, but he managed to get out, “Oh, please. There’s so much to do… It’d be a waste if we couldn’t sightsee and try some of those foods Plant Man was talking about earlier…” 

“Oh, please? Can we please please please try that stuff?” Crash asked eagerly. “A lot of that food really did sound amazing.” 

“Sure, we can try everything while we’re here.” Quick reassured Crash. His smile grew wider when he saw the look of tired though pure excitement on Crash’s face. 

“That sounds like a ton of fun,” Metal said, smiling behind his mask, “but first and foremost, we need to find a place tonight to… _crash.”_

And instantly, Crash’s smile dropped off his face. “Let go of me, Metal. I want to sink into the river and become Bubble.” 

“Just when things were going just… _swimmingly,_ too. Hahahaha~,” Flash suddenly added, to the surprise of everyone. 

“Yyyyeeeessss, finally!” Metal giddily cheered, wearing a huge smile behind his mask. 

“Metal, how dare you. H-how dare you infect my partner with your lame puns. This is all your fault, ahahaha~,” Quick laughed, too tired to truly be angry at him. Metal just laughed with him. 

Flash closed his eyes and relaxed as his brothers and his partner simultaneously pushed him closer to the edge of the river as well as use him as a support to lean on. “We should probably contact Dr. Light before we sleep tonight, though.” 

“You wanna hit him up with a message?” Quick asked him. 

“Mmm. Sure.” Flash said, content and happy at that moment. Quick was right. Everything did work out in the end, just like he said. He opened up the communication feature within his CPU, but instead of composing a message for all of his brethren to read, he accessed the only other feature in the system: a private messaging system. Except his only contact was Dr. Light. But that was all who he needed right then. He carefully composed a message, proofread it a few times, and then sent it. Here’s to hoping it sends fast, he thought. 

[Fl: Hello, Doctor. It’s Flash Man. Just giving you an update. We have Snake Man with us. We ran into some trouble along the way, and we’re crossing the Amazon River right now, but we should be fine. It might take us a little while to get back home, though. 

[Fl: Also, thank you for asking for Hornet Man and Plant Man to help us out. I cannot begin to express my gratitude because of that. 

[Fl: That’s all. Please get back to us soon, and thank you again.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was that, everyone? :D The next chapter may take a little longer than usual to write because my last semester in college is gonna start in a few days and it's loaded with classes *SOBS* Please comment with what you think, or any thoughts you have, or whatever! I love reading comments and once again, thank you so much for all of the support! You guys have truly made writing this more than just fun <3 
> 
> Until next time! See you, Space Fire Man. . .


	15. Dreaming of Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SCHOOL'S KICKING MY ASS AGAIN, OOPS 
> 
> OKAY SO I THOUGHT THAT CHAPTER 11 WAS GONNA BE THE BIGGEST CHAPTER, but turns out it's actually this chapter that's bigger! A lot happens in this one! 
> 
> Also aaaaaahhhh!! Thank you so much everyone for the comments and support! I'm so happy! <333 And also thank you so much for being patient with me! I know this one took much longer than the rest, but I think it'll be worth it?? Please, enjoy the chapter! I tried...;;; <3

The sky has long set, for the bright sun had descended hours before. In its place, the moon had exposed itself fully and proudly in the sky. It painted the rolling green hills and forest and the distant highway in soft hues and tints of blue. It also casted its cool colors upon the household of Doctor Light’s, and dipped an already blue Robot Master in more of his own color palette. 

Said robot took a moment to look around. Amongst the deep blue night sky, everything that stood tall around him was nearly silhouetted black against the massive blue sky. The trees, the highway, the mountains and hills… It was so very beautiful to him. And despite it almost being November, it was a delightfully warm night for him, too. Not too cold, and thankfully not too hot either… He smiled to himself. 

It felt so good to be home. 

He let out a sigh, his mere breath chilling the air around him and causing little puffs of frost to wisp away into the atmosphere. 

He had almost forgotten what it was like over here. The air was so warm to him, and the wind whipped through his fluffy hair. He could very faintly hear singing from inside Doctor Light’s house. Oh… he knew exactly whose voice that was, and it made his core nearly melt into a puddle. 

“Be still, my whirring core…” He whispered to himself, clutching his chest. He took a deep breath. _Right. I’ve been out here for too long, I should probably head back inside. Doctor Light probably needs me for something else, too,_ he thought to himself. He composed himself, pulled his hood back over his head, and walked back inside his house. He was about to push the button to open the elevator that lead to their basement and laboratory, but the singing that left his wires and circuits fluttering resounded again, much closer this time. 

He couldn’t help himself but look around for the source. And almost immediately, he saw her. There she was… Everytime he saw her, it was like the first time he fell for her all over again. Long, flowing golden hair, her sweet and kind smile, her gentle hands and her very pretty fashion taste… And her voice that left even Elec Man in awe and wonder… She was so unbelievably stunning to him. And to him, her looks and her voice were merely the very tip of the iceberg of all the things he adored and admired about her. He wouldn’t be lying if he said he might’ve daydreamed of seeing her again. His legs felt weak again and his core wanted to melt even more. But the moment he realized one of her hardworking hands was waving in front of her face, he instantly snapped out of his trance. 

“Heeeey, are you okay?” Roll asked, her face transforming from a puffy-cheeked pout into a look of concern and worry. She knows that he’s been prone to zoning out quite a lot, sometimes for reasons that he can’t help or control. Ever since he was kidnapped and reprogrammed by Dr. Wily, she’s seen him experience a rather elusive programming bug of sorts a few times… making him zone out before acting like a completely different robot. One that was quite aggressive and assertive. But luckily, today was not one of those days. 

He blinked a couple of times and shook his head. “I-I-I’m alright, Miss Roll! I-I’m sorry for b-being in the way, I was just thinking about stuff, I-I-I’ll get out of your way I have to help out Dr. Light and Rock b-bye--!!” He stammered rapidly before bolting for the set of stairs next to the elevator and heading downstairs to the lab. As he descended down the flight of stairs, his hands came up to his reddening cheeks. “What was -that-?! Come on!” He hissed to himself, scowling. It was… as though his entire body locked up for just a moment when she spoke to him. He huffed another frosty, but frustrated breath. He felt like he messed up just now… by trying not to mess up. 

It’s just… hard to be composed and confident around her when he was so terrified of upsetting her and causing her to like him less. He let out another frosty breath. 

He entered the laboratory, where he saw Dr. Light and Rock in the far corner. The two of them were building what looked like more pods, to replace the ones that Bass had destroyed years ago along with so much else of their precious equipment and tech. About time, honestly… “H-hey, Dr. Light, hey Rock, I-I’m back from my walk…!” He stammered, pushing the thoughts of his crush into the back of his CPU. 

“Welcome back, Ice,” Dr. Light greeted jovially from across the room. “Did you have a nice walk?” 

“Oh, certainly, Doctor!” More like he didn’t even walk, he just stood outside of the house to calm his lovesick thoughts. “It’s so refreshing to be out in warmer weather for the first time in a while!” There was no way he could tell them about his feelings. He… he didn’t know how the good doctor felt about robots in love, moreso HIS robots. And… to speak the truth, he was a little afraid to know how Rock would react if he ever learned of his crush… 

**Today is not the day, soldier. You are not prepared.** A voice within his mind spoke firmly to him.

 _I know that already, he thought to himself. But one day, I’ll tell… uh, somebody._

“I’m with you there,” Rock said, taking a wrench that Dr. Light passed to him. “Today’s one of the last warm days before we enter another Ice Age, ahaha~ I’m kidding, but the weather looks like we’re going to have an especially cold winter. The temperature’s already dropping so fast and it’s not even November yet!” 

“Well, not like Ice would find that to be a problem, right?” Dr. Light added, smiling gently at the ice robot before him. 

Ice Man remained blank and unresponsive for a few moments. Dr. Light and Rock waited patiently for him. Ice eventually blinked rapidly and asked, “I-I’m sorry, what were you asking?” 

“You wouldn’t have a problem with a cold winter this year, would you?” 

“Oh. Of course not, I love the cold!” Ice then chirped happily, distracted from his own thoughts. “More cold means more snow!” 

“That’s right. And not only that, but this year, you can finally have a snowball fight in the Arctic like you’ve always wanted.” Dr. Light said supportively. Ice’s blue eyes then widened, and a wide smile grew on his face. 

“Oh yeah, that’s right!” He said giddily, forming a small grin on his face. 

“What are you guys talking about? Is there another robot in the North Pole?” Rock asked. 

“Why don’t you tell Rock about it?” Light asked the frosty robot, smiling warmly. 

“Oh!” Ice exclaimed, his expression warming up significantly. “I made a new friend last month! I ran into this robot called Chill Man one day, and we talked for a while and showed off our special weapons, and now we conduct our field research together everyday! He’s trying to help stop the glaciers from melting.” 

“Is he a newbuilt?” Rock asked, putting a hand to his chin. He’s never heard of Chill Man before… “What’s he like?” 

“Oh, he’s really cool and nice to me! Here, I’ll show you!” Ice said, opening a compartment in his forearm and pulling out his own personal cell phone. But he paused midway when he noticed about 12 new messages he never answered. “W-wait, hold on.” He opened his messages, and they were mostly just pictures of Chill Man’s adventures in the North Pole. His favorite already was the one close-up of a baby seal’s face. After the picture messages were a few regular text messages from him, mostly updates about his field research and him asking how he was doing here. But there was one message that stood out from the rest. 

[DID YOU ASK HER OUT YET] 

Ice’s face turned red again. “Y-y-you know what, I’ll show the pictures later, this phone needs recharging-!” He stammered, scrambling for the nearest wall outlet and phone charger. “A-a-all you have to know is that he’s a cool guy!” 

“Haha. Very funny,” Rock deadpanned, before quietly groaning to himself. 

“Wait-- wait, did I say something funny?” Ice asked in genuine confusion, plugging his cell phone into a wall charger. 

“A very _cool_ guy?” Rock said. But Ice merely blinked at him from across the room. “N-nevermind.” A pun intentionally made to be that bad and cheesy reminded him of somebody he hasn’t seen for a while… “Actually, Ice, could you please check the teleporter’s status and see if it’s still running fine?” 

“Sure! …Are you sure there’s not anything else I could help with?” Ice asked, walking slowly towards the teleporter, which since his arrival, has finally been repaired and for the most part, working once again. 

“Ice, you haven’t had a break from your work in over half a year, you really should rest while you can…” Rock said. 

“...Ah. R-right. You’re right, I’m sorry. I-I’m just used to a-always doing something,” Ice stammered. The truth of the matter was that he was in fact quite grateful that he was getting a break from his work. But he didn’t want to leave the lab and further make Roll any more uncomfortable upstairs… “I-I’ll just check the teleporter and get out of your way…” 

He finally looked up at the teleporter before him. It was the stationary variant that was large enough to fit almost any robot within its confines. This one was actually quite huge, compared to any other one he’s seen before. It was similar to the pods, but rather you stood inside its chamber instead of laying down in it. He glanced down at its control systems in front of him and began the usual process of testing and checking everything to ensure it fully functioned without error, but… 

**You’ve dreamed of seeing her again. Why are you going to waste your time here rather than spend it being with her?**

_I… I can’t do it. I’m scared. I want to be around her, but I’m just going to mess up, and everything’s just going to go wrong, I can feel it,_ Ice thought to himself, idly pushing a key on the control panel’s keyboard every so often. 

**You’re certainly right if you continue to uphold that attitude. The only true path to failure is to take no path at all.**

_I can’t, though… I can’t, I’m not strong enough. Please help me. Please take over for me. You’re braver and stronger than I am…_

**I cannot.**

_Why not?!_

**This is your mission, not ours.**

_It’s not FAIR, though! All you ever do is talk to me and tell me what to do, but when it’s something I ACTUALLY need some help with, you just sit back and don’t do anything? Or just poof away? You might as well just do exactly that and not talk at a--_

Boo-wipp! 

Ice’s train of thought came to a screeching halt when something very suddenly materialized in the corner of his eye. He looked up and let out an unmanly yelp as he jumped back in surprise. …And landed on his metallic rear. Before him, quite suddenly, within the teleporter’s chamber stepped out… 

Those sharp, angular designs… Those deadly protrusions and wicked faces… Without a doubt, he could tell from their looks alone that the robots who just used their new teleporter were… 

“Holy shit, is that _Ice Man?”_ The tallest one, Quick Man, suddenly exclaimed, before sporting a huge grin on his face. Immediately, everyone around him peered around his body and stared at him wide-eyed. 

“Oh my gosh, he’s TINY!” Crash exclaimed. “He’s way smaller than me! He’s smaller than Plant!” He then leaned over to his partner and whispered, “Do you think he’s smaller than Heat?” His burgundy partner merely chuckled at the thought. 

“He might actually be,” Metal simply answered, before his eyes turned away from Ice. He readjusted his grip on a couple of heavy-looking, strong bags… Whatever was inside it, only Metal Man knew. 

Ice blinked at them with huge eyes, unsure of what he was seeing, before rocketing to his feet and assuming a defensive stance. “D-Dr. Light, Rock?! There’s Wilybots in the lab!!” He suddenly yelled, glaring daggers at the four Wilybots. Flash lifted an eyebrow amusedly at the small, frosty robot yelping at them. Quick’s grin only intensified and he took a step forward towards Ice, who backed away further in a panic. “S-stay back!! Stop and freeze!”

Rock didn’t even glance in Ice’s direction. “It’s okay, Ice. Those Wilybots are okay. They’re not going to harm anyone here.” He reassured him from across the room. Quick’s eyes then widened at the frosty robot. 

“Wh-- Did you actually think we were going to do something to you?” He began to snicker. “Did we scare ya that much? Eehehehehehehee~!” And then his snickering morphed into laughter. Metal couldn’t help but smirk behind his mask. 

“You honestly thought were we going to do something to you when, for one thing, Megaman is right there, in the same room as us? Did you spend too much time in the South Pole?” 

“It’s the North Pole, actually…” 

“Yeah, whatever. Anyways!” Metal then snapped his attention over to the super fighting robot and his dad on the other end of the laboratory. “Doctor Light--” 

“DOC!” Quick cut over Metal, grinning much wider than before and closed the distance between himself and the good doctor in the blink of an eye, all while readjusting his hold onto the limp body of Snake Man, who was slung over his shoulder. “Words cannot even BEGIN to describe how much I want to thank you, Doc, for sending help our way, like holy shit! You would not BELIEVE the shit we went through to get this guy!” He gushed excitedly, before gesturing to Snake. 

Almost immediately, the remaining Wilybots in the room exited the teleporter and was at Quick’s side, having already forgotten about Ice Man. Doctor Light finally looked up from his work and smiled warmly at the four before him. “If my memory serves me correct, didn’t Flash Man tell me a few days ago that you had run into some kind of trouble while in the Amazon? And also, welcome back.” 

“Thank you!” Crash chirped happily, before glancing at Flash. “And, uh, I think it was a little more than just ‘some’ trouble, Flash.” 

“Look, I was exhausted, we all were exhausted… I didn’t want to have to explain everything that day, too.” Flash said defensively but calmly. His attention then turned to Doctor Light. “We couldn’t have gotten Snake without Plant Man and Hornet Man’s help, so… thank you, sincerely. From the bottom of all of our cores.” He thanked, offering a small smile. 

“Oh, but of course, it was my pleasure!” Light said, his lips pulling up even further into such a warm smile. “Did you all have a nice time at Dr. Astil’s laboratory?” He then asked. He’ll have to thank Pedro later for helping him test his new teleporter earlier… 

“OH!!” Crash suddenly gasped. “YEAH, HE’S COOL!” 

“He was rather pleasant, actually!” Flash said, smiling wider and remembering their brief time at the botanist and doctor’s workshop. Not only was he polite and kind to them, but he even went out of his way to repair all of their injuries… That alone automatically put the doctor on his ‘Acceptable Humans’ list. 

“Oh yeah, _that_ Doc? He’s really cool,” Quick said casually. “Fixed us up and everything! Even patched up ol’ Snake Eyes here!” He then looked at Rock, who was avoiding any eye contact with any of the Robot Masters at that moment. He sneered at him, grinning lightly. “Tsk, tsk, Megaman. And I thought 14 Metal Blades thrown into my beautiful sweetheart was terrible.” Rock only began to look away harder. “This poor Snake… You know how many needles you put inside this robot?” Rock began to sweat lightly. “I bet you do.” And cringe. 

Quick felt satisfied with himself right then and there. But then, “How many?” Ice asked, suddenly at their side. Quick grinned more at Rock. 

“ICE--” Rock yelped, but was cut off. 

“22 needles,” Metal answered the frosty robot. “The poor guy got impaled in 22 different places… For shame, Megaman,” He said, smirking behind his mask. 

“I didn’t mean to, okay?! The Needle Cannon is a rapid-fire weapon! I’m sorry!” Rock said, looking back at all of them and feeling as bad as he did when he first received Metal’s text so many weeks ago… 

“Yeah, okay.” Flash said, rolling his eyes again and smirking as well. None of them could help it. If there was one thing they all took a little satisfaction in, it was making their sworn enemy suffer. 

“I mean it! I never wanted to fight any of you! Especially not one of my ‘half-brothers’ from the 3rd Generation…!” Rock yelped defensively. 

“Or the 1st Generation, either,” Ice mused, “I still remember all those days after the 1st war that Rock cried…” 

“ICE--” 

“Oh dear…” Dr. Light breathed quietly, putting a hand on Rock’s back and giving him light rubs and pats. “If it’s any help, I believe you.” His son only let out a sigh in response and he shut his eyes for a moment, trying to push back down the awful, ugly feelings that the Wilybots helped resurface within him. Light continued to gently comfort Rock, but his attention turned to the Wilybots. “Could… May I see Snake Man?” He asked a little hesitantly. 

“Sure thing.” The scarlet robot then gently laid Snake Man on top of the incomplete pod. The sickly doctor scrutinized his unmoving body before he felt something well up within him. Something… melancholic and strong. His expression shifted and saddened when his gaze rested upon Snake’s expression. 

“It’s been too long since I’ve last seen Snake Man in person…” Light said softly. “He was as much of my child as he was Albert’s.” His tired, trembling hand rested upon Snake’s forearm. He’ll have to thank Pedro later for repairing him, too. “If-- If you recover any other 3rd Generation Robot Masters, please don’t hesitate to bring them t-to me, I will gladly repair and reactivate any of them…” 

“Oh, well if that’s the case, we’re gonna hafta take Snake Eyes back.” Quick chirped, slowly picking up Snake Man, to Light’s shock. “We’ve got somewhere to be before we hand him over to ya, ain’t that right, boys?” Light’s eyes were trained on Snake Man, a look of forlornness written on his face.

Flash, Crash, and Metal nodded. “We won’t be long for too long, Doctor. We just need to head out and grab another robot first,” The temporal offered for comfort, smiling softly. 

“And with that, I’ve gotta see Roll real quick before we leave.” Metal announced, turning around and beginning to head up towards the elevator. Crash immediately followed him, content. Metal readjusted his grip on the heavy bags he carried. 

“Here, let me get summa’those,” Crash offered, holding a drill out to the burgundy robot. Metal hung a couple of bags on it. 

“Thanks, love.” Metal sighed a bit in relief and was about to stop at the elevator and impatiently mash the Up button when suddenly Ice Man shoved himself in between the door and the cutter robot. 

“W-WAIT!! Wait, what do _you_ need to see Miss Roll for?!” Ice yelped, glaring at the two again. Metal lifted an eyebrow and Crash’s face shifted to surprise. The two Wilybots looked at each other, before looking at the small, frosty robot once again. 

“Why do you care?” Crash asked, his eyes narrowing out of confusion. 

“Because I l-- B-BECAUSE y-you’re Wilybots, a-and I have to ensure her safety…!” Ice stammered, eyes widening. He was trying and failing to hide the light blush that began to tint his squishy cheeks. 

Crash looked at Metal again, who glanced back at him with as much confusion on his masked face as Crash had on his own. 

“No worries, we’re not going to hurt her. Didn’t you hear Megaman before?” Metal reassured him, reaching forward with his free hand anyways and mashing away at the elevator’s Up button. “We’ve just got a date with Roll in the kitchen.” He added.

Ice Man’s body froze. 

Wh… what did he just say…? 

Did-- D-did he hear that right…? A… a-a date…? 

“W-wha…?” He sputtered, looking up at them with huge eyes. He felt his core began to freeze over and horribly tighten. 

Metal’s smile widened behind his mask in amusement at how the Lightbot’s face began to contort into an expression of horror. Crash couldn’t hide the grin forming on his face, though, moreso at the thought of surprising and delighting Roll than at Ice’s suffering. “Yeah, and,” Crash began. The two then stepped around the petrified Ice and into the elevator. “We’re about to shower her with gifts, too. See ya!” Before Ice Man could ask anymore questions or stop them, Metal had mashed the Close Door button and shut the doors on him. 

The two waited patiently for the elevator to ascend slowly, and seconds later, a muffled and distraught scream of anguish sounded from the laboratory below them. Metal jolted slightly at the suddenness of it, and he looked at Crash. 

“I wonder what was up with him…” Metal mused, receptors twitching. Crash simply shrugged. 

“I actually have no idea…”

~~~~~

As the night passed, the moon’s presence only grew stronger, and casted its cool-colored ruling across an entire half of the Earth. And underneath its ruling sped a large, yet zippy black car through the bustling streets of the city. Within that car were five Wilybots, four of which were long tired and desperately wanting to get a healthy amount of sleep, and one who has been ‘asleep’ for much too long. They snaked their way through street after street, following a much-too-large map, until they hit a highway that led to the city’s moonlit dump.

Flash gripped the wheel tightly and focused on the road. He couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of déjà vu as he took an exit off of the highway towards the dump. He couldn’t help but glance at the rearview mirror, though, thankfully, all that sat in the backseats were his ‘brothers’ and a ‘half-brother’ of his. 

It didn’t take long for them to park their car on the outskirts of said dump. The four of them, with Snake in tow, filed out of the car and easily made their way over to where they wanted to be: a tiny, lone building towards the back of the dump that sat behind a particular large pile of scrap metal and glistened under the moonlight. 

The four stood at the building’s front door. Metal instinctively reached for the door handle and tried to open it but it merely jiggled and the door remained shut. “Huh,” Metal breathed, “It wasn’t locked last time…” 

“Metal, are you sure this is where Shadow Man is?” Crash asked him. He tried to peek through one of the windows next to the door only to find that said windows were all boarded up from the inside… 

“Oh, I’m positive. I talked with him inside this building. And Bubble’s coordinates are in there, too.” Metal reassured him. There was no doorbell to mash repeatedly or drill, so he grew impatient at an impressive speed. He began to bang his fist on the door. “HEY! Shadow, open up the door!” He barked irritably. However, nobody answered the door. There wasn’t even the faintest of sounds from the other end. Metal Man twitched. 

Quick placed a hand on the cutter robot’s shoulder and eased him a few steps back. “Hey, don’t worry. If the bot’s having trouble opening the door, maybe we should ‘help him out a bit.’ Ya get what I’m saying?” He said supportively before looking at Crash and winking. “Crash?” 

“Do I get to drill the door?!” The orange Robot Master asked eagerly and excitedly, looking at Metal and Quick. 

“Drill away, Crash!” Quick said, taking a few steps back as well. Metal merely blinked and didn’t object this time. Crash grinned and revved his drills. He took a few steps forward. 

… 

… 

From within the thick walls of an old but fortified shack, a lone Robot Master of questionable origin laid motionlessly on the old, weathered couch that hugged the wall and barely held itself together. The only sound the filled the void in the air was the low hum of the old ceiling fan. Well, that, and what sounded like faint knocking on the door. The Robot Master groaned quietly and pulled his scarf over his nose and eyes. _No… leave this place. Don’t bother me._

It was probably yet another unsuspecting, curious human who was probably exploring the dump and stumbled across his, he supposed, permanent residence. He grimaced and silently wished for them to go away with what little willpower he harbored at the moment. The faint knocking yet continued, and he continued to ignore the door. Whoever it was, was rather persistent. Either this was a very bored human, or… 

There was no way it could be his brothers. Top would’ve send him a text message beforehand if he were visiting him, and… if it were Blues, he would’ve heard his telltale whistle moments earlier. Shadow frowned. It’s been so long since Top last visited him, anyways… he wouldn’t be surprised if he had decided already to never visit him again. He completely understood why if that were to happen, he wouldn’t even blame him, and yet, the very thought still made his core sink into his chest harder than someone sinking into a body of water and drowning. _One of my brothers has already left me…_ he thought, his core aching harder at the recollection of… _…I’m so scared._ He didn’t want to be alone anymore, and it took so much of his strength and willpower not to latch onto anyone who bothered to stay. He felt something taking over his core slowly, but he couldn’t exactly say what. All he knew was that it was heavy, suffocating, and horrible. 

He felt so drained and tired, despite having remained unmoving in the same position most of the day. Actually… he’s lost count of how many days he’s laid down in this exact spot and position. And the last time he’s slept, too, while he’s at it. Honestly, what was even the point of counting time sometimes when nothing’s going to change… 

…Wait, no. That’s not completely true. 

_That’s right,_ Shadow thought to himself. Slowly filtering into his CPU were memories of the most important day of his life in the past year or so. He… lost count of how many days, or was it weeks, ago that he fought and met Metal Man. The name alone made him tug his scarf down gently and open his eyes. They automatically trained to the ceiling fan, whose dusty blades whirred and spun so fast it created a mesmerizing afterimage. That’s right. He met Metal Man. He met a 2nd Generation Robot Master! And talked to him! The feeling within his metallic chest loosened its vicegrip on his core just a little. 

_That’s right, I talked to him and gave him Snake’s coordinates,_ he recapped mentally, before suddenly slapping a hand over the shuriken that adorned his forehead. He should’ve made an extra copy of those coordinates for himself. He hoped to everything out there that Metal took his request seriously. But if he didn’t… that’s okay. Well, it wouldn’t be okay at all to him, but it wasn’t as though he could make him do it. That’s not how things work. _After all, you know very well what happens when you do._ He thought to himself, before he felt as though he was sinking deeper into both the couch and his own misery. If he’s long accepted his fate already, then why does spending every day here feel like it’s slowly tearing him apart? _Save my soul…_ he thought to nobody in particular. 

Almost as if on cue, a soft sound filled the silence of the shack. And then it grew louder and more violent and chaotic at an alarming speed. Shadow’s eyes instantly darted towards the door, and the ninja robot sprang to his feet the moment he saw something poke through the only door to his ‘home.’ He immediately slid underneath the office desk in the room… but instead of touching the solid ground that supported the desk, his entire body slipped into something vast and expansive and infinite. 

It never felt off or strange to him whenever he found himself hiding and floating in a literal void that, at least on paper, should not exist nor be feasibly possible considering the fact that shadows did not contain any volume whatsoever. But akin to his namesake, Shadow Man worked in mysterious ways which even he wasn’t sure how, and he didn’t question it. If anything, it was comforting and even familiar for him to be swallowed and embraced by, from his point of view, an endless expanse devoid of any light whatsoever. He welcomed the darkness around him, very much unlike the shadows that plagued his core. 

At least in here, his entire self felt like nothing compared to the world of light, where he felt way, way too much. 

He listened carefully, though. Just because he was hiding within eternal darkness devoid of light or sight does not mean that it was devoid of sound, though. It was easier to focus this way, while he was hiding here and his body was in this state. He could not see anything, and yet, the sounds of the drilling ceasing, followed by a new sound-- the door opening-- rang clearer than day to him. He patiently waited. 

Shuffling, no-- yes, shuffling. Footsteps. They were getting closer to him. Robotic joints easing and twitching. Robots were in the room. Suddenly, a voice-- it felt like it was directly above him, and very close. 

“Shadow? Are you in here? Shaaadow…?” 

That voice sounded familiar to him… 

“Shadow? It’s Metal Man, by the way. Are you here--” 

WELP, NO TIME LIKE EVER TO EXIT THE VOID. He didn’t even listen to the rest of what Metal Man had to say and instead, pushed himself upward. He couldn’t entirely grasp nor explain how and why he did, but whenever he hid in the shadows, he just knew where to go, whenever. He saw and felt dim light spill into his world and color it, and he embraced it as well, re-entering the world of-- 

Bump! And almost immediately, a minor, irritable pain coursed from the top of his head to the rest of his physical body. He grabbed his head and rubbed his scalp. “Shit,” he cursed, before more carefully climbing out of the shadow and out from underneath the office desk. “M-Metal? W-where are you?” He said, stumbling and scrambling to his feet, before opening his eyes. “Meta--” 

His eyes focused on Metal Man’s familiar red eyes blinking back at him for only a moment, before flitting to Crash Man, Quick Man, and Flash Man who all stood nearby. Shadow Man’s own ruby red eyes widened huge and he’s never felt like a deer in the headlights more in his life than right then. 

Crash cocked his head to the side. “Wh-- what did I just look at?” He asked, confusion written all over his face. 

“Did-- did he just _crawl out of a shadow?”_ Flash asked in sheer disbelief, blinking rapidly, before resting a hand on his shiny head and slowly sitting down on the couch. He… he needed a moment. 

Quick, however, didn’t seem as phased as Crash or Flash by Shadow Man’s very unorthodox stunt. He sported his jolly, handsome grin and stood proud. …And very tall. “Heya, there! So, you’re the Shadow Man I’ve heard about? I can see why you’re called that! Cool trick, by the way.” He stuck his hand out. “The name’s--” 

“Y-you’re Quick Man!” Shadow suddenly sputtered, snapping out of his stunned state. His eyes only widened further, though. “You’re the real, a-actual Quick Man, o-oh my god! Oh god!” He whipped his head to Metal. “That’s Quick Man--” He whispered to Metal, who only laughed amusedly. He whipped back to the scarlet, speedy robot. “You’re Quick Man!” 

“Yep, the one and only Quick Man, fastest robot in the world, right here!” Quick chirped happily. Witnessing Shadow’s freaking out over him did nothing short of filling his core with an excited, warm kind of pride and happiness. “Nice to meet ya! You’re from the generation after ours, right?” He asked, still holding his hand out. 

Shadow stared at his confident and rather sunshine-esque smile and just that alone helped lift his core out of the pit of misery he was drowning in just moments earlier. He blinked and flushed before looking away, seeing Quick’s hand, and hastily and nervously shaking it. “Y-yes! My brothers and I fought and lost in the 3rd War!” He stammered, looking up at the speedy robot. “I… oh god, I’ve heard so much about you! I-I-I never thought that I’d actually meet you in person… ever in my life!” 

Quick smirked widely at the starry-eyed ninja bot and put a hand on his hip. “Pssssh, what’s Wily been saying about me? It better be good shit.” The look that Shadow Man had… he couldn’t help but find it cute and endearing. 

“H-he’s only said good things! I swear!” Shadow said. 

“Thank god. Well, I’m glad ya like me! I am pretty awesome.” Quick boasted confidently. “BUT, I can think of someone who tops me…” He paused for a split-second and suddenly faltered, blushing lightly. “...err, in awesomeness, I mean.” And in the blink of an eye, he was by Flash’s side, leaning against him on one arm. His smirk returned in full force. “So if you know my name, then surely ya gotta know--” 

“Flash Man!!” Shadow gushed, rushing over to the two of them. Flash looked up at Shadow Man wide-eyed, before looking at Quick for a moment. The speedy robot shot a supportive smile his way. Flash then hesitantly held his hand out, which was immediately shook by the navy Robot Master. “I’ve heard a lot about you, too! Dr. Wily said you were one of his favorite robots! Can you actually stop time?” 

“I-- w-what…?” Flash sputtered at him, eyes widening. “He-- I-I-I was…?” He shook his head. “N-no, that can’t be… A-and yes, I can stop time. But… I’d rather not demonstrate it.” He said, looking away from Shadow. 

“It’s alright, I wasn’t planning on asking. Still, it’s such a great honor to be able to meet you both! I haven’t heard much about the 2nd War, since there were almost no records of it, but my brothers and I have always thought you all were so cool and powerful…” Shadow sheepishly gushed. 

Flash blinked at him, before his mouth curved upwards into a small, warm smile. “Awww… Well, prepare to be disappointed, ahahaha~,” He laughed softly, but earned a scolding, but playful look from Quick. 

“Heeyyyy, what’s that supposed to mean?! We’re cool and strong! Amongst some _other_ things as well that I won’t mention here~,” Quick cooed at Flash, winking and wiggling his eyebrows a little at him. Flash’s face began to flush pink. 

“Quick…” Flash warned anyways, smiling up at his partner. He then murmured softly to him, “We can go over the rest of that tomorrow… in more detail, if you want~.” 

“Oh?” And like that, Quick’s eyes widened and his smile intensified, fully at attention to his beautiful blue partner. God, he wanted to tell him so much. No, he wanted to say and DO so much with his Flashy right then and there… If Shadow Man weren’t here, if they were alone right now… He lightly bounced one of his legs as his imagination went other places. His patience soon followed. 

[Qu: Okay, can we speed this up a little? PLEASE?] 

“Yeah, we’re also talented and smart and a little bit crazy, too!” Crash suddenly cut in, leaning against the other side of Flash and looking at Shadow. The ninja robot’s eyes widened in recognition at the drillbot. 

“And you’re Crash Man!” Shadow breathed in, smiling widely. He looked him up and down briefly… Crash was much shorter and cuter than he imagined. From how Dr. Wily had described him, he imagined him as this huge, intimidating, eternally angry-looking robot… “It’s a great honor and pleasure to meet you, too!” He instinctively wanted to shake his hand, but… he glanced down at Crash’s drills for hands. He ended up lightly bowing instead. 

Crash grinned at him and also flashed him a smile reminiscent of sunshine. “And it’s great to meet you, too! Metal told me a bit about you! You’re strong and skilled and cool-looking!” 

And then it was at that precise moment Shadow’s core, cold and aching from misery, ached for a different reason for the time in a while. His internal fans began to whirr harder as a hand came up to his own face. “Y-you think I’m s-strong and cool…?” He stuttered in disbelief. Crash nodded happily at him and Shadow, for a split second, was overwhelmed with a sudden rush of emotions surging through his circuits and core. He clutched his chest. “O-oh… t-thank you…” He looked back to Crash, and then Metal. “Thank all of you. S-seriously, thank you so much f-for even bothering to come here…! A-and listening to me and… o-oh god…-” His emotions began to collect in liquid form at the brim of his optics as the sudden realization of what it means for them to all be here hit him harder than Megaman’s Top Spin in his 2nd fight years ago. 

“Hold on, hold on, don’t unleash the waterworks yet, we haven’t even shown ya what we got for ya!” Quick said, holding his hands up. 

The navy robot sniffled and blinked at Quick Man with huge, glossy eyes. “Do-- do you mean…?” 

“Yeah. So about those coordinates?” Metal cut in and asked him. 

“Oh! That’s right!” Shadow exclaimed, before scrambling over to the desk again. Everyone, curious, hovered around the desk as Shadow fumbled and sifted through one of the drawers. After a few minutes of fumbling, he whipped out to all of the them the very same manila folder that he had shown Metal a week prior. “This is the folder that I promised Metal last time I saw him… Inside it contains general information about Bubble Man, including the teleportation coordinates to his station. I-is this good enough?” He explained, looking between Flash, Crash, Metal, and… …that’s odd. Quick was just here moments ago? “Uh…?” 

“He does that a lot. He’ll be back soon enough,” Flash reassured him, before taking the manila folder out of his hands and looking through it. He analyzed and scrutinized the data before him that he hasn’t seen in over five years… Well, not this data exactly, but he knew exactly which machine back in their old castle had created these records… Their old Weapons Archive always produced little files like these every time a new Robot Master was registered into it. He wondered if said machine was still around, or was it destroyed by Megaman years ago…? He further looked through the file and in one of the corners, he saw it. The undeniable complex number sequence that was none other than teleportation coordinates. “There it is,” he breathed, before sighing in relief and passing the folder to Metal. The cutter robot instantly took it from him and looked through it next. “How did you even find one of our old files…?” 

“Would you believe that this guy actually went to our old Wily Castle while we were all deactivated?” Metal mused, his eyes reading through the document’s data unbelievably fast and nodding in approval. He shuffled closer to Crash and showed him next, who immediately hovered next to Metal and looked curiously at the file. 

“No way. R-really, seriously?” Flash asked, his own eyes widening and suddenly looking at Shadow Man. “D-did you find anyone else there?!” 

Shadow shook his head no. “I-I’m sorry, that file was the only salvageable thing I could find in the castle. I didn’t see any bodies…” 

“SPEAKING of bodies and salvaging…!” Quick suddenly announced out of nowhere. Everyone looked up at him, and the speedster was standing in the (destroyed) doorway, a huge grin growing on his face. In an instant, Quick was at the desk alongside everyone else, and had noisily swiped everything clean off of the desk to the ground. Shadow was about to open his mouth and object when Quick instead laid down on the cleared desk the body of… of… “Now you can unleash the waterworks.” 

It took Shadow Man a moment to register what exactly he was looking at, before his eyes widened larger than they ever did previous that day. Laid out on the desk was the body of Snake Man, fully repaired and unmoving… “Oh… o-oh my--” And then his optics became glossy and wet. Very slowly but surely, his core began to become overwhelmed again, this time with sheer euphoria and relief. “O-oh my god, you… y-you actually went and got him…!” He choked, clutching his chest again with one hand and bringing his other to his scarf to wipe away the brimming tears threatening to spill from his eyes. 

“Well, yeah. A deal’s a deal, and I wanted to help you out anyways, after seeing the hellhole Dr. Wily stuck you in,” Metal said, before retracting his mask and offering a smile at him. “What, did you think we were gonna bail on you?” 

Quick scoffed. “I know you just met us, but what, did you take us for liars?” 

Shadow blinked rapidly at the burgundy and scarlet Robot Masters, before the tears brimming in his optics became too much to hold and began to spill down his cheeks uncontrollably. “I-I-I’m sorry…! O-oh my god…” He sniffled and whimpered, before looking down at Snake Man’s body again and leaning over him. He rested his face against Snake’s chest and began to cry softly. “I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He choked out, feeling horrible that he ever doubted them. He couldn’t… he couldn’t believe this was actually happening…! “Snake…! I-I’m so…--! Thank you…!” He whimpered against the body of his deactivated ‘brother.’ He would be lying if he said that he hasn’t dreamed of this day, of the day he and his family would be reunited together with Snake. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!” He sobbed. 

He soon felt a part of short arms wrap around his sides, as well as two different hands patting and rubbing his back. However, he didn’t mind at all and instead threw his arms over Snake, clinging to the serpentine robot as if somebody threatened to take him away. He was trembling from the sobs that wracked his entire body. Today was in fact the greatest day of his life. 

Eventually, his sobs and tears slowed to a stop and he sniffled and wiped away what wetness remained on his pale face. He looked up to find Crash practically clinging to him and Metal and Flash giving him the pats and rubs. “I-I’m so sorry that I doubted you… I-I’m indebted to you. I owe you so much--” 

“Psssh, no you’re not,” Metal reassured. “You’ve already done so much more than words can express for us by having those coordinates around.” Shadow sniffled again and finally let go of Snake, only to turn around and hug Metal next. Metal and Crash both hugged him back, sandwiching him. “There, there. Things are gonna get better for you, you hear? Do you remember the other part of the deal we talked about?” 

Shadow nodded slowly against Metal’s chest. “I-I join your experiment, r-right?” 

“That’s right. And you’ll get to leave this… uh… literal dump for good. Just a question though.” Shadow looked up at him curiously. “If you were ordered to stay here, how, uh, are we supposed to take you to Dr. Light’s lab?” 

“O-oh, that’s simple!” Shadow breathed, letting go of Metal and Crash finally letting go of Shadow. “You just need to incapacitate me and render me unconscious… … … …or break me. Doesn’t exactly matter either way,” he casually explained as if this were a normal thing to say. He pointed to his head, “It’s probably best if you crush my head.” 

“You’ve, uh, thought this out, huh?” Flash asked, eyeing Shadow curiously and a little suspiciously. 

“More than I’d like to admit…” 

“Hooold on, though,” Quick cut in and objected, “Your head? That’s a no-go. Isn’t that where your I.C. chip is?” 

“Actually, it’s not!” Shadow answered. Now all four of the 2nd Generation Wilybots were looking at him strangely. “My I.C. chip was built and installed into my chest instead of my head. It’s inches away from my core. I… can’t exactly explain why I was built like this, though. I’ve been wondering the same thing as you all.” 

“That’s so… odd!” Crash said, trying to wrap his CPU around the concept. All Robot Masters’ I.C. chips were inside their heads! “So… it’s okay if we mess up your head?” 

Shadow nodded at him. “Yes. So… whenever you’re ready, do whatever you want to me. I’m almost positive I can recover just fine from it.” He stood over Snake’s body, staring down at him and bracing himself for what’s to come. 

The four 2nd Gen Robot Masters looked at each other. Immediately, Crash held up a drill curiously, but Quick shook his head no at him. The speedy robot put a hand to his chin, thinking over the many ways to go about this. Eventually, he calmly broke the silence. “Metal.” 

Metal looked up at him curiously. Did Quick want him to use his Metal Blades…? 

Quick then surprised him by flattening the palm of one of his own hands, and balling his other into a fist. And then smashed his fist into his palm. Metal completely understood what he meant by that, and Quick further emphasized by then balling both of his hands into fists and smashing them into either side of an imaginary object in front of him. Metal nodded and stood behind Shadow. 

[Me: But why not my ‘blades?] The cutter robot silently asked Quick. 

[Qu: This is the safest bet to avoiding making a huge mess everywhere, I think. Flashy’s buster and my boomerangs are too weak to incapacitate him first blow, and your ‘blades and Crash’s bombs are meant to completely annihilate, right? We’re not trying to kill him.] Quick answered him. 

Metal nodded again and took a deep breath. That made sense to him. “Okay… okay,” He breathed to himself, readying his hands and balling them into fists. He breathed deeply again. 

Shadow patiently waited, having closed his eyes well before Quick’s display. And then, all within a few seconds, everything went black for him, the last sounds he heard before he lost consciousness being the loud sound of a metallic crunch and what almost sounded like… ringing…? Or was it more like TV static? He didn’t have enough time to figure it out it before everything went silent. 

Well, he heard that, and also a faint, hazy cry that sounded something like “OH GOD HE’S BLEEDING”, before he collapsed on top of Snake Man and fainted.

~~~~~

Everything was dark…

A sensation that didn’t phase him in the slightest, and rather, has grown accustomed to. 

Now, which _kind_ of darkness he was used to was a different question, entirely. This kind… he wasn’t quite as used to, much to his own regret. It didn’t leave him floating in nothing or fully conscious, and all the sounds around him were hazy… Well, were hazy, if he were to be accurate. Slowly but surely, he began to hear noises filter into his audio receptors. 

“Hey… …ey… …adow… heeeyyy…” 

Whoever was trying to talk to him… their voice was distorted and partially drowned out by the white noise that filled his head… and that bothered him. 

He slowly opened his eyes and almost instantly regretted it. Light filled his world, except it was much too powerful and strong. He lazily brought a hand up over his face and shielded his optics from such intense light whilst they recalibrated themselves. This was not the dim lighting of the shack he had no choice but to make a home out of. _Where am I?_ He thought to himself. _Wait. I’m not in the dump. Where -am- I?_

He took a moment to look around… The overly bright white lights that lit up the area… the cool-colored, steel walls and ceiling… His audio receptors readjusted themselves as well. He could hear faint pop music in the background… This… this all felt too familiar to him. He’s seen this place before… He could feel that he was laying down on something cold and flat. 

He glanced down from the walls and ceiling to find three faces all peering down at him. His own eyes widened huge instantly. 

“Good morning, sleepyhead~,” Roll happily greeted him. “Did you have a nice sleep?” She… looked happier than anything. 

Shadow blinked rapidly, looking like a deer in the headlights again. His lips parted and he spoke, his voice so unusually soft and hesitant and quiet. “R-Roll…?” He almost whispered in disbelief. “A-am I still dreaming…?” His eyes narrowed slightly as he scrutinized her. Her voice and her warm smile was still the same as ever, and yet… she looked so different from that last time he saw her. She was bigger and her hair was fuller and she was wearing a different dress, one that covered her arms and neck… 

“No, silly, you’re awake right now,” Roll answered, before smiling wider at him. It was almost melancholic. “I missed you, Shadow. We all missed you, it’s been too long!” She gushed. 

Shadow felt his core tighten and heat up with emotion. He had only just awoken, and his circuits and wires were already racing with… with excitement! His wide, red eyes glistened and his mouth curved into a small smile. “I missed you, too.” He whispered to her. It was hard to believe her, that this wasn’t a dream. Never in a thousand years would he have ever imagined that Roll, or anyone in Dr. Light’s family, would welcome him back with open arms after… what he’s done. 

After betraying them, and leaving with Dr. Wily, and trying to take over the world… and hurting Rock. It never really was something he remembered often, that at one point he was a Lightbot, too. He had always primarily thought of himself as a Wilybot and now… now that he found himself inside the laboratory of his old doctor’s? It left him feeling bad. Really bad. Roll missed him this whole time… Shadow Man’s smile disappeared as he glanced at the two others peering down at him. 

His expression of surprise and delight was replaced by a look of guilt and regret. “Dr. Light, Rock, I’m sorry,” he immediately confessed, “I’m sorry about what happened 4 years ago. A-and I’m sorry that I never returned back here, and that I never let any of you kn--” 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Rock said gently, “I don’t hold what happened against you or any of your brothers. I’m just happy that you’re back.” 

“We’ve missed you and everybody else for so long…” Light said, clutching his chest lightly and smiling at Shadow. Said ninja robot also couldn’t help notice how different his old doctor and father looked… how unhealthy he looks now… 

Shadow Man shuddered and looked down at himself, before looking up at the three of them. “You’re truly not upset…?” He looked between the three, who all shook their heads no. “Thank you,” he spoke quietly, sitting up, “Thank you all so much, I… I have no words… I-I missed all of you, too…!” 

Roll’s face then shifted and morphed into one of excited glee, and Shadow’s face brightened up in response. She threw herself at Shadow and hugged him tightly, and soon enough Rock joined them in the hug as well. Shadow hesitantly returned the hug. It lasted for an awkward minute before the Lightbots retreated from the embrace. “Oh goodness… where do I even begin…? There’s so much you have to catch up on!” Roll breathed excitedly. 

“I-I could say the same for you all. It’s been… a ride since I last reactivated. A long ride that I couldn’t get off of.” Shadow said, looking away from her. Dr. Light, meanwhile, had already moved towards the great keyboard that matched his rather large monitor. He pushed a particular sequence of keys, releasing Shadow Man from the operating table that he laid upon. The wires that connected his arms and neck to the table detached themselves with a small hiss. Shadow shifted and got off of the table and stood up, albeit a bit wobbly. His sense of balance was always a little sensitive… He looked around more, getting a better view of the lab he was in. “Oh goodness, what time is it?” He asked, looking down at Roll. 

“It’s almost 1pm. If you want, we could catch up over lunch? I’m about to start cooking it soon!” Roll offered, smiling up at the ninja robot. 

“Lunch?” He repeated, dumbfounded, before tilting his head to the side. “I can’t-- I-I’m sorry, Roll, but I can’t digest organic food, I was never built that way.” 

“Well, you’re in for a nice surprise then!” Roll said happily, looking at Dr. Light. 

Shadow stared at her confusedly for a moment, before following her attention. He… had no idea what she meant. “D-Doctor Light, I-I don’t understand. What does she mean by that?” He asked. 

“Well…” Dr. Light began, clasping his hands together and smiling at the ninja robot. “Last night, the robots who are a part of my experiment, the robots from the 2nd War, brought yours and Snake Man’s bodies to me and all told me that you both had to be a part of it, too. That being said, I repaired your head, but I have also upgraded your body a bit and modified it, too--” 

“You-- you did?” Shadow asked, bewildered. “W-what part of my body needed upgrades?” 

Dr. Light took out a clean handkerchief and wringed his hands through it. “I tweaked and readjusted your central balance servomechanism as best as I could so your body is more adjusted to Earth’s physics rather than Albert and I’s original intentions of putting half of the 3rd Generation Robot Masters to work in deep space. Your body might take a little while to get used to it, though. I also upgraded your fuel converter so that you can digest organic foods now as well. And upon the request of the 2nd Generation Robot Masters, I removed the malicious strings of code Dr. Wily had installed in your central programming that forced you to follow his orders unconditionally and feel a sense of loyalty to him. And installed a modified version of Asimov’s Three Laws in you as that is one of the conditions of partaking in the experiment.” He explained, before stopping abruptly and remembering to breathe, taking a deep though sickly-sounding breath in. 

“You took that out?!” Shadow exclaimed softly, looking up at the sickly doctor. “Does that mean I don’t have to follow his every order now?” He asked, eyes widening. 

“That’s right. You no longer have to follow anybody’s orders now. You are your own robot. I’m about to demonstrate to you.” Dr. Light cleared his throat and pat his chest a little bit, before giving Shadow Man a stern look. “Shadow Man, go upstairs and cook me lunch.” 

Shadow blinked wide-eyed at Dr. Light again, processing what he just heard. And yet… no message appeared within his CPU nor did he feel any kind of immediate obligation to go upstairs whatsoever. The room was silent for the most part, with Shadow Man staring at his old doctor, before breaking the silence. Shadow’s mouth twitched upwards into a small, awkward smirk, and then an awkward, giddy smile, as he began to giggle to himself. “Ehehehehehhehehehehee~ No! I’m not going to!” He giggled, becoming ecstatic. His core never felt so warm and light! He’s never felt so liberated! He just told one of his doctors no! “I’m not going to follow you or Dr. Wily’s orders! Oh, ohhhh, I’m so happy!” His happiness was contagious and Dr. Light couldn’t help but smile and laugh with him, before coughing lightly. 

“That’s right, whether you follow your own path, or choose to return to Dr. Wily or myself, that is your own decision you can make from now on!” Light said supportively. 

“That’s…! That’s…” Shadow started happily, but then his feeling of euphoria and liberation died down. “Wait.” He put a hand to his chin. If he can do whatever he wants now… what is he supposed to do? He’s spent most of his life serving under someone else, or he was seeking out to serve somebody… “Dr. Light, what am I supposed to do now?” 

“I can’t quite say, Shadow Man. What do you feel like doing?” The sickly doctor couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu strike him.

Ah, shit. 

“Uhhh… ummm…” Shadow looked around, before his eyes fell on Rock and Roll for help. 

“Lunch?” Rock offered. 

“Oh! Right, I can eat food now. Y-yeah, that sounds interesting,” Shadow said, before a thought stopped him. He glanced at his former doctor again. “Dr. Light, is the 2nd Generation still here? Did they all get similar modifications to what I’ve gotten?” 

Light smiled warmly at him and nodded. Roll’s smile grew too as she spoke up. “Yeah, they’re all upstairs dead asleep. I’ve never seen any of them go to sleep so quickly in my life… they must have been exhausted. And yeah, they all got modded, too!” She exhaled contently. “But… maybe we should wait on making lunch until everybody wakes up, at least.” She REALLY hopes everyone wakes up soon, she HAS to know what Metal and Crash put in her fridge yesterday! They just told her it’s a secret and a gift, and that she’s not allowed to peek in the bags… She would be lying if she said that it wasn’t bugging her all night.

“Oh, right, sorry…,” Rock apologized, before looking down at his hand and counting on his fingers, “How many people are we feeding today? You, me, Dr. Light, Ice, Metal, Crash, Flash, Quick, Shadow, Snake--” 

“You’re reactivating Snake today?!” Shadow said excitedly, eyes widening and becoming starry again and his wide smile returning. Rock smiled back at him. 

“Oh, we’ve been ready to reactivate him all morning. We just wanted to do it after we finished your upgrades and mods, and woke up. Which took, uh, way longer than I thought it would’ve. Shadow, did you know that a BIG chunk of your coding is in, uh… a language we can’t translate?” Rock explained. 

“O-oh. No, I didn’t, I-I’m sorry.” 

“Oh, no, don’t apologize, it’s okay! That’s just the reason why it took us longer than usual to modify you.” Rock said, before looking up at Dr. Light. “Doctor Light, how did you figure out what to code when you found him?” 

“Oh…” Light said sheepishly, looking away. “I, ah, didn’t code him at all. I left Albert in charge of that. I told him I’d work on building the rest of the 3rd Generation…” He then brought a hand to his chin and stroked his fluffy white beard. “That’s probably why Shadow was the last completed Robot Master of his Generation too, now that I think about it…” 

“I thought Dr. Wily was supposed to build the Doc Robots!” 

“Oh, ah… those were, uh, never completed. He told me he needed more time figuring out Shadow Man’s programming… And we focused on Gamma when we had the time, as well.” 

“I-I’m still right here, you know!” Shadow barked, pushing down twinges of insecurity threatening to rise within him. His fingers anxiously and mindlessly fumbled with one of the ends of his muted red scarf. 

“S-sorry, sorry!” They both said in unison, harboring guilty looks towards the navy robot. Rock shook his head though and tried to distract himself from his chagrin. “I-if you want to, we can reactivate Snake right now.” 

“Oh, please do. Please, please reactivate him!” Shadow all but begged the Blue Bomber. Rock smiled at him as Dr. Light began to make his way over to another part of the laboratory. Rock followed and Roll gently took Shadow’s hand in her own as they made their way to a different corner of the lab. Shadow almost immediately noticed one of the tables that supported Snake Man, in perfect mint condition, with so many wires inserted into his arms, head, and chest. His eyes widened and he gripped Roll’s rather soft and warm, skin-covered hand in anticipation. She squeezed his colder, metallic hand back. 

“It’s probably best if we stood this far away… Turning on Robot Masters might end up shocking you a bit,” she told him quietly. Shadow nodded in understanding. 

He absolutely wasn’t going to lie this time and say that he hasn’t dreamed of this day. He still couldn’t entirely grasp the fact that everything that happened within less than 24 hours his life has changed more than it has for the past year or two. It was all moving so fast and yet, he’s never felt so ready for this moment and in a strange sense, he’s never felt so ‘alive’. He was free AND he was no longer going to be alone again! His core whirred excitedly and his circuits raced. His hands trembled lightly in anticipation as Dr. Light pulled out a command prompt on one of the smaller computers nearby and began to type in a series of coding strings. He wasn’t near Snake or the good doctor at all, but he couldn’t help but notice the command log on his computer move rapidly fast. His ruby eyes immediately flitted over to his fallen ‘brother’. 

Snake Man didn’t move a robotic joint or extremity. Shadow held his breath. The seconds passing by felt like an eternity for him. His eyes were very nearly boring into Snake Man, waiting for something to happen. His hand tightened in Roll’s. And then, all too suddenly, Snake Man shifted, and Shadow’s core nearly stopped. 

The serpentine robot very slowly opened his eyes, his face finally relaxing from the permanent expression of pain he had held for 4 years straight. Instead of oval-shaped pupils, he instead had thin, red slits for eyes, similar to that of a cat or… snake. They flitted around the room, instantly memorizing the room by habit, before they widened in surprise and confusion. He tried to get up, but the wires connected to his chest and arms pulled him back down. He glanced down at his arms and stretched his sharp, talon-like fingers. His ‘tail’ twitched, before wiggling a little bit. 

Roll smiled so widely. Even though it’s been years, she remembered Snake Man like it was yesterday. He was still as cute as ever. She’s only spent a little bit of time with him, but she remembered how curious and innocent he was. She looked up at Shadow… only to find he had completely disappeared? 

Snake Man looked around the room and finally spoke, his voice permanently hushed and a little coarse. “I’m… back in the old lab?” He asked no one in particular. What… what was he doing back in Dr. Light’s laboratory? Even without his weapon, the Search Snake, he could immediately pinpoint and tell every detail in the room he scrutinized. This was absolutely Dr. Light’s laboratory and it was exactly the way he remembered it from years ago, before the 3rd War broke out. Well, mostly the same. At most, there were significantly less pods around. And a new teleporter! But still… _Why am I here? I thought I was…_ His train of thought left off as a realization hit him. He looked down at himself, and realized that his body was in perfect condition. Fully repaired and devoid of any Needle Cannon shots in him. _If I’m here in Dr. Light’s lab, then that must mean Rock and Roll should be here, too… …Oh god. What the hell am I supposed to tell him? What do I do? Why am I even here?_

His eyes finally fell upon the good doctor himself, and Rock. His wide eyes blinked and his face contorted again. What was he supposed to say to them? _I’m sorry I tried to kill you twice let’s be best friends?_ He could feel something rising within his chest, horrible anxious waves of dread… “Dr. Light. R-Rock,” Snake said quietly, staring at the two. Rock only smiled at him, which made him feel much worse than he expected. He trembled. 

But soon enough, he felt a hand touch his own, causing him to jump lightly and squeak. He whipped his head up towards the source and he froze in surprise for a moment, before he immediately relaxed upon recognizing who brushed his hand. 

“Hey.” Shadow said softly, smiling at him. 

“Oh thank god,” Snake murmured under his breath. He looked up at the ninja robot. “S-Sthadow,” he said, the ‘s’ pronunciation in said robot’s name causing Snake’s very thin and very long forked tongue to slip out of his mouth for a split-second. “I-I thought for one sthecond that I wasth a-all by mys-sthelf… I-I wasth about to losthe it…” 

Shadow shook his head and his smile turned sweet and warm, yet sad. “No way. Not after what happened with us, I wasn’t going to sit there and watch you freak out.” His smile widened. “G-god… I missed you so much… I-I’m so happy to see you again.” He trembled and shook, waves of euphoria and relief washing over him. His hand hesitantly brushed over Snake’s again. 

Snake looked down at Shadow’s hand before looking up confusedly at Shadow’s face. _His expression…_ His face… He had no idea what happened or what he’s missed, but… Shadow looks tired beyond all relief. And weak. And sad. _What… happened to him?_ He had to know, he had to find out. He absolutely had to know what’s pushed the cunning and strong Shadow Man that he remembers to this state. “Sthadow…” Snake murmured softly, before he raised his voice a little louder. “Doctor Light, releasthe me at once.” 

Doctor Light wasted no time in disconnecting the wires from his body with the click of a button on the keyboard. Moments later, Snake had pushed himself off of the operating table. Compared to Shadow Man, Snake was much smaller than him and he only reached up to Shadow’s chest when he wrapped his arms around him and hugged him tightly. Almost instantly, Shadow’s arms were encompassing Snake and hugging him so close to his chest. “I missthed you too, a lot…” He nuzzled Shadow’s chest when he felt him tremble harder. “I… I-I don’t know how long I’ve been deactivated, but I’m here now, o-okay…? I-it’sth going to be okay…” 

Shadow nodded and sniffled, leaning over and resting his chin on the top of Snake’s helmet. One of his trembling hands came up and gently stroked the green robot’s tail. He was trying so hard not to let any more tears spill from his eyes and to just hold it in instead. The two stayed like that for a couple of minutes, holding each other in a comfortable near-silence, relaxing in each other’s presence. 

Snake eventually pulled his head back and looked up at Shadow. His tail swished idly. “Sthadow, h-how long have I been gone…? A-and why are we here again? A-are we being put to work again?” He asked. 

Shadow stroked the top of his helm and tail again and looked down at his serpentine ‘brother’. “It’s been four years since our war… A lot of things are different now. And not… exactly? It’s weird. We’re not working for Dr. Wily nor Dr. Light, but we’re both part of an experiment Dr. Light is working on.” 

“Oh, and what’sth that? And r-really?” Snake murmured, his eyes widening. _It’s been that long…? What does he mean we’re not working for Dr. Light or Wily?! W-who are we working for then? Why are we active?_

“I… don’t know every detail yet. But Dr. Light said we have to make our own decisions from now on. A-and we can basically do whatever we want.” 

“W-what do you mean by that? A-anything we want? Really?” 

“Yeah. It’s really weird, right?” 

“Weird wasthn’t the firsth word I wasth thinking of. I wasth… thinking of sthomething more like… sthcary? T-terrifying? Overwhelming?” 

“Y-yeah, all of that, too. I-I only just learned all of this today…” Shadow shuddered again. 

“W-well, hey. We’re in thisth together, at leasth,” Snake offered and smiled supportively up at Shadow, his smile by default always a bit too wide for his face. However, a thought hit him hard immediately after. He sharply inhaled before asking, “Are we the only onesth, Sthadow? Where are the othersth? L-like Magnet, Gemini, Needle, Sthpark…” 

Shadow paused for a moment, his glossy eyes blinking rapidly and looking away from Snake. “T-they’re not… with us right now.” For just a moment, a look of sadness and guilt flashed across Shadow’s face, before said expression suddenly changed and brightened up as he remembered… “W-wait, that’s not entirely true! H-hold on!” Shadow then pulled away from Snake and and opened up one of his forearm compartments. He dug for a little bit before pulling out what looked like a cheap and outdated cell phone. A grin began to form on Shadow Man’s face, intensifying as he scrolled down his contacts. “It’s not just us, I can’t believe I almost forgot, holy shit.” 

“Oh?” A smile began to form on Snake’s face as well, becoming unnervingly wide as he watched Shadow become less sad and more excited. “Who elsthe isth active right now?!” 

“You’ll see…!” Shadow said, blasting through his phone contacts in record timing before dialing up exactly who he wanted to talk to. He immediately put the dial tone on speaker mode and held the phone out for the both of them. After half a minute, the phone finally picked up and a voice spoke. The voice itself was smooth and alluring to a default, although this time it sounded a little exasperated as well. 

“Shadow, I thought I told you not to call me so many times per week.” Snake’s eyes widened. He knew EXACTLY whose voice that was! His already too-wide grin only intensified in excitement. 

“Yeah, hello to you, too,” Shadow retorted, before the smile on his face grew even wider. He felt so giddy right now! “Anyways, are you busy? And try to guess where I am right now.” 

The voice on the other line didn’t even hesitate. It droned a little. “Yeah, I kinda am. And uhhhh, on your couch?” 

“No, that was yesterday. Well, you better put whatever you’re doing on hold and guess where I am RIGHT NOW.” 

“Uhhhhh. In the city dump?” 

“Close, but no cigar.” Shadow’s grin intensified as well. He could barely contain the excitement. “Right now, as we speak, I’m standing in Dr. Light’s laboratory…!” 

The voice on the other line paused and went quiet for a moment. 

“You’re joking, right? You’re pulling my leg.” 

“N-no, I’m not! I’m actually telling the truth! Listen,” Shadow gushed before suddenly bolting over to where Dr. Light, Roll, and Rock were chatting with one another. They all jumped at Shadow’s suddenness as he thrusted the phone out to them. “Rock, say hi!” 

Rock gave Shadow a weird look before glancing at the phone and stammering. “U-uhhh… h-hello?” 

Shadow pulled the phone back to himself and returned a now giddy Snake. Who only became more giddy as the voice on the line began to lose his composure. 

“Oh god. Shadow-- Shadow, what’s going on? What did you do? H-how are you there right now?” The voice sputtered. 

“Why don’t you come over right now and find out? It’s kind of a long story, but you really really helped me out! So thank you!”

“Shadow, I really want to, I REALLY REALLY WANT TO, b-but I don’t know if I can just drop this…” 

“Oh, c’mon. It can’t be that important. I mean, I’m finally out of the dump! Don’t you understand what this means?!” Shadow then noticed Snake gesturing with a clawed hand to pass the phone over. Shadow giggled. “H-hold on, somebody wants to speak to you.” He passed the cell phone into Snake’s hand, who held it close to his mouth. 

“Shadow--” 

“You sthould really come over here sthoon. It’sth really important.” Snake cooed into the phone’s receiver. 

“W-wha…” The voice trailed off. “I-- I-is that-- are-- did I-- what-- um-- uh-- uhhhh?!” He became more and more dumbfounded and tongue-tied over the line. He knew EXACTLY whose voice that was but… there’s no way it could be-- 

“Hi Toppy,” Snake purred into the line, giggling alongside Shadow. “It’sth been a long time, I heard.” 

“…S-…S-Snake…? I-is that really you…?” Top Man’s voice sounded weak over the line, like he was beginning to get emotional. 

“Yesth, it isth. I missth you, Toppy. Why don’t you come over to Dr. Light’sth housthe?” 

“I-- I-I’LL BE OVER THERE AS FAST AS I CAN. I’M COMING OVER RIGHT NOW.” 

“Good. Then I’ll ssssssthee you sthoon~!” Snake chirped before clicking the End Call button. His slit pupils met with Shadow’s ruby eyes and he began to cackle. Shadow joined him, giggling and feeling SO giddy! The two laughed for a few seconds before Snake’s resumed his huge smile, his thin forked tongue escaping his lips and flicking out happily. His tail wiggled and he sighed contently. “I forgot how fun it wasth sthurpristhing people. Esthpecially people like Toppy.” 

“Honestly, me too,” Shadow breathed, smiling widely. Okay, scratch what he thought yesterday. Today is actually the best day of his life. He hasn’t felt this refreshed and energetic and happy in so long… “Oh, and while we’re on that! Some of the robots from the 2nd Generation are active and in this experiment, too!” 

The serpentine robot’s eyes widened huge. “R-really?! They are?! D-did you get to talk to them?!” He asked excitedly. 

“Yes, I did!! I actually met them! They’re the reason why I’m here, why we’re both here!” 

“I’m stho jealousth, holy sthit. Wait, where are they now?” 

“Upstairs.” Shadow casually said. Snake’s tail began to erratically twitch. 

The two calmly looked at each other for a few seconds, before they both bolted towards the elevator as fast as they could. Roll watched the scene before her and smiled widely. “I’m heading upstairs, too! Wait for me!” Roll called out, barely making it into the elevator on time before the doors shut. She wasn’t going to miss this, and not to mention that if Snake is active right now, it’s probably high time to wake up her Wilybot friends. 

… 

… 

Upon the elevator’s doors opening to the upper floor and living room, Roll, Snake, and Shadow exited to find… well, honestly they didn’t know what to expect. What sounded like motocross racing sounded quietly from the television. Watching said races sat Flash comfortably on one end of the couch, with Quick resting his head on his lap. The temporal robot looked more relaxed than ever, idly stroking one of Quick’s horns on his helmet. The scarlet robot’s legs rested on Metal’s lap, who sat sprawled out on the other end of the couch. Quick seemed to have been in the middle of telling a story to the resident frosty Robot Master, who sat across from them in another cushy seat. 

“Ahaha yeah, so this guy thinks he’s real smart, right? Tries to be tough guy and pulls a freaking gun on us in the car! He shoots me, and the bullet bounces off of me and hits Flashy, bounces off’a HIM and then hits CRASH and then THAT bounces back and the guy basically shoots himself in the leg. ‘Dumbass almost crashes the car, Metal lets out the biggest OF COURSE, and then because of those laws installed in us, we end up dropping him off in front of a clinic and then WE. BOOK IT. THE HELL OUTTA THERE. Aaaaall the way across the highway to another city all night long. Holy crap, we didn’t sleep that night, and it felt like HELL. We were freaking out then, but I look back on it and I think it’s kinda funny now.” Quick explained, gesturing with his hands. 

“That’s horrible!” Ice said, his face contorting in horror. 

“I don’t know, I thought it was kind of funny. More of like in that ‘that was so stupid, did that really just happen?’, kind of way.” Metal objected, smiling a bit behind his mask. 

“He got shot!” Ice yelped. 

“BY HIMSELF.” Quick said. 

“He might’ve died!” 

“Psssshh, he just got shot in the leg,” Metal scoffed casually, “He’ll be fine.” 

“Why do you say that like it’s a completely normal thing?!” Ice yelled at the cutter robot. 

“Hey, let me ask you something.” Metal said, directing his gaze onto the frosty robot. “You ever know what it feels like to have your entire lower half of your body melted away in the blink of an eye?” Ice stared at Metal with huge eyes before shaking his head. “Yeah, if I can survive that, I’m pretty sure a human can survive a dinky little bullet in the leg.” 

“But you can’t compare those two things! You’re a Robot Master!” Ice retorted. 

“Perhaps that’s something that human should’ve considered as well, then,” Flash commented. “If all Robot Masters are made of sturdy enough materials to deflect bullets, maybe it’s not the smartest idea to try to shoot one point blank in a moving car.” 

Ice lifted a finger up to try to object to that, but ultimately faltered and was at a loss for reasoning. He ended up puffing his cheeks out and pouting as he crossed his arms. “Maybe it was the heat of the moment, then.” 

“Hey, guys!” Roll called out, instantly getting everyone’s attention in the room. “Is everybody here awake?! Where’s Crash?” 

Almost as if on cue, an unmanly yelp sounded from the kitchen. But moments later, a small “I’m okay!” soon followed after. 

“In the kitchen,” Metal answered, slowly getting up to his feet and smiling warmly at the cleaner robot, “Preparing your present~.” He closed the distance between her and himself, immediately getting Ice’s attention and putting him on alert. 

Roll’s eyes became sparkly and starry. “Ohhh, Metal… you and Crash didn’t have to get me anything…” She said humbly, looking down and faintly blushing, to Ice Man’s horror. 

“But we wanted to! Moment I tried it, I HAD to share it with you,” Metal whined lightly, smiling behind his mask. He then whipped his head around and ran to the kitchen. He poked his head in. “Crash, is everything ready?” 

“Y-YEAH HOLD ON I-I’M ALMOST-- OKAY, ready!!” Crash called out to Metal. The cutter robot turned back to Roll and gave her a thumbs up before entering the kitchen. 

Roll grinned excitedly. Before she entered the kitchen, however, she turned to the rest of the robots. “Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Shadow Man and Snake Man are here and they wanted to say hi!” She hastily said before entering the kitchen. She would’ve loved to stay to witness Snake and Shadow’s excitement at finally meeting -the- Quick Man and Flash Man, but the temptation of a gift for her that had to be refrigerated was waiting just ahead… She’s waited all day and night for this moment! 

She entered the kitchen and immediately spotted Metal and Crash, and right next to them on the counter sat MANY huge and sturdy-looking bags. It was so tempting the night before… to just peek in any one of those. Metal couldn’t help but notice the looks she was giving those bags and smile behind his mask. 

“Okay, so, while we were in Brazil, our time there was pretty short, BUT after we got Snake Man, and… er… that whole fiasco with the gun, we actually had some time to try some of the food in the Jungle City in the Amazon. So! We decided to bring some of it to you!” Metal explained, retracting his mask. 

At that moment, a little frosty Lightbot began to peek his head into the kitchen doorway. He narrowed his eyes at the cutter robot. He didn’t trust him, he didn’t trust him or Crash Man at ALL. He wasn’t going to let either of them hurt Miss Roll, or win over her heart! He had to protect her! 

Roll, unaware of the frostbot watching them, waited impatiently and lightly bounced on her feet in anticipation. _What could it be, what could it be?!_ She thought excitedly. Metal reached into one of the bags. “Are you ready?” He asked, almost immediately being met with vigorous nodding from Roll. He chuckled. “Alright, here it is!” 

Everybody watched closely and intensely as the burgundy robot began to lift his arm up at an agonizing pace. Roll was bounced on her feet much harder now and was nearly vibrating with excitement. But the moment he suddenly pulled it all the way up, and… …wait. 

What? 

Ice’s face paled and his pupils shrunk. _No… N-no…!_ He cried out within his CPU. 

In Metal Man’s strong grip was a small, slimy fish with a striped tail. “Ta-daaaa~!” He chimed. Crash held his drills out like jazz hands towards the fish and posed for emphasis, grinning. 

_Nnnoooooooo!!_ Ice cried out dramatically within his mind. _Not fish! That's what I would've gotten her!_ He thought in despair. A hand came up to his mouth so he could nibble lightly on it and repress any scream that would threaten to escape his cold lips. He felt small and insecure, like his own chances of getting closer to her were shrinking away… and his confidence he had built up over time was breaking apart as these two, these Wilybots that he's barely even seen, are getting along with Miss Roll easier than he ever could… 

Truly, they are evil robots, he thought to himself. 

“You… you got me fish?” Roll asked, puzzled and, if she were honest, a little bit disappointed. 

“Not just ANY fish! It’s only the TASTIEST FISH ON THE PLANET!” Crash gushed excitedly, bouncing lightly on his own feet now, too. He grinned such a wide sharktooth grin towards her. 

“Ohhh, yeah. These little guys here are called _jaraqui._ Only found in the Amazon and oh my god, when I tried this, Roll, I’m not even kidding, I didn’t wanna leave. I wanted to keep eating more. Quick and Flash had to pull me away from it. And then Crash tried it and it took all three of us to pull him away. It’s REALLY good. And…” Metal explained, retracting his mask and grinning at her. 

“We just HAD to show you and let you try it, too!” Crash piped in, smiling widely. “We thought maybe cooking it together with you would be really fun!” 

Roll felt her cheeks growing warmer as she slowly clutched her chest. She took back what she thought minutes before. “That… that’s so corefelt of you two…!” She squeaked happily. 

“Well, hey. We thought you deserved it. Unlike your piece of scrap brother, you’re actually really cool and understanding and rational. So we thought of you, and wanted to share one of our best memories of Brazil with you,” Metal said warmly. “Besides, I had a lot of fun cooking with you last time.”

“Me too! AND!” Crash added, beaming happily at her. “It’s okay if we mess up! Because we, uh… might’ve ended up getting every fish they had that day and all the o-other ingredients to cook it with?” 

Roll gazed warmly at the two Wilybots and tried hard to not let her core be completely overwhelmed with happiness. She… was at a loss for words. Nobody’s ever gotten her food like this as a gift before… And as a surprise gift, too… She didn’t know what to begin to say to them, so she did what came to mind first. She stepped forward and hugged the both of them tightly. “Wow… That’s so thoughtful! You guys are the best! You are SO sweet and wonderful! I’m so happy I know you two~! We’re going to make the best lunch ever!” She gushed, lightly nuzzling against the both of them. 

Metal and Crash both beamed with so much happiness and warmth right then, both of their faces reddening ever so slightly… as Ice Man watched in absolute horror. 

_No… no no no, there's no way I can do this. This isn't happening! S-she… she likes…!_

**Soldier, you might have lost this war. That was a genius tactical choice for a gift.** The voice within Ice’s head suddenly commented. 

Ice then took a moment to pause, inhale deeply, and then bolt away from the kitchen. He zoomed right past Snake Man and Shadow Man who were in the middle of chatting with Quick Man and Flash Man, right out the door. He ran down the dirt path that connected Dr. Light’s household to the nearby mountains and Monsteropolis. When he finally reached an acceptable enough distance away from the house, he finally unleashed the horridly powerful force that was building within his CPU and his chest, and let out the most ear-shattering wail of pure despair to the sky above. 

“Ice Man, why are you screaming?” A rather smooth and charming voice just barely cut through the sheer volume of Ice’s manifestation of all of his anxiety and woes in vocal form. Said frostbot whirled around and wasted no time pointing at Top Man and screaming at him next before running along down the dirt path more, away from the Light household. 

The dancer robot stared after Ice Man who slowly but surely was becoming a speck in the distance. Wh… w-what just happened? Top had never felt so confused in his life. He lifted a white hand to his chin. “Was it something I said?” He asked himself worriedly. After a moment’s hesitation, he shrugged. He had no idea, but it was something he couldn’t afford to waste his time on. He had SO MUCH MORE important matters to attend to! 

He continued to skate his way down the dirt path, gliding across the ground much faster than any robot whose name wasn’t Quick Man could’ve walked. He gracefully made his way down the front and just as gracefully, barged through the door with no warning. 

Everybody jumped at the sound of the door suddenly opening, and whipped their heads over to the tall and lean orange Robot Master standing in the doorway. Shadow and Snake and Top all had huge-eyed expressions of surprise written on their face, whilst Quick and Flash blinked at him in confusion. Now that’s a Robot Master they’ve never seen before. 

“Oh man, we’re gonna have a party by the end of today,” Quick commented, grinning widely at Flash. The temporal robot looked at him. 

“Do you know that who is?” He quietly asked. There were so many robots now in the house, it vaguely reminded him of years ago, whenever all 8 members of their family had to come together at Wily Castle. He leaned against Quick and closed his eyes a little, while his scarlet partner watched the 3rd Generation robots. 

“Nah, but they do.” Quick answered simply.

“TOPPY!!” Shadow and Snake suddenly gasped and called out the new Robot Master’s name. They ran towards the tall orange Robot Master. 

“SNAKE!! SHADOW!” Top gushed, skating towards the both of them as well. 

The two smaller Robot Masters collided with Top Man, who immediately wrapped his arms around the both of them and lifted them both up into his embrace. The three of them broke out into relieved and blissful laughter as Top held them and spun them around in a circle. And then another circle. And again and again, faster and faster. Before Quick knew it, Top Man was spinning at an impressive speed. He had to blink rapidly and look away before just watching him would make him dizzy. 

“T-T-T-To-oppy…!! Y-you’re spinning too m-much…! I-I’m gonna be sick!” Shadow yelped amongst his laughter. He held onto the dancerbot for dear life and clutched him tight. 

Top heard him amongst his rapid rotating and he slowed down to a stop. He let go of Snake, who was left cackling and stumbling around until he found the back of the couch and held onto it like no tomorrow. Shadow remained clinging to Top, though. He’s spent enough time with Top to know better than to try to find his own balance right after one of his rotations. 

Top looked down at Shadow with glossy eyes and such a wide smile and held him tight. “Shadow, I… I have to say sorry. I’m sorry for being so late, and for treating you like scrap over the phone, I-- I-I didn’t know… I had no idea that you actually recovered Snake! I’m sorry for not believing in you after--” 

“It’s okay, it’s okay, we can talk about that later! I’m just happy you’re here!” Shadow reassured him, catching his breath a little. He looked up at him and flashed him, at least for Top, the brightest smile he’s had in years. Top nearly wanted to cry right then and there in relief. 

He then turned his attention to the newly-reactivated robot in the room. “Snaaake, Snake, come back here, I’m not done hugging you.” He chimed happily at the serpentine robot. 

“O-okay…!” Snake breathed out, exhilarated and dizzy beyond relief from how fast Top spun. He hastily found his way back into Top’s arms alongside Shadow. “I missthed you! I-I never thought I’d s-sthee either of you again! Or think that w-we’d even end up back here…!” He gushed happily, relaxing against the two of them and smiling much too widely. 

“W-we’ve missed you so much, too! Oh… Shadow, w-what happened? How did you do this? How did you leave the dump a-and even get Snake?! W-was it Blues?” Top asked him, overcome with joy and relief. 

The ninja robot shook his head. “No, not him. Do you remember the robots I’ve been asking about for a while about? The 2nd Generation robots? They really ARE the 2nd Generation and I-I met them and I a-asked for their help AND THEY HELPED ME AND THEY’RE HERE AND WE’RE ALL HERE NOW and o-oh god, I’m so happy…” He gushed euphorically at him. 

“Oh, wow, they’re here?” Top asked incredulously, before he heard a whistle. He turned his head to see Quick wave aloofly at him. 

“‘Sup?” 

Toppy’s eyes glinted in recognition though and he smirked. “Well, if it isn’t the lovebots from the club, themselves~. I remember you two well! You know, you never called me.” 

“That’s because we don’t have a phone,” Flash answered. “We’ll give you a call when we actually get one.” 

Top Man blinked. “Oh. …fair enough.” He took a deep sigh and smiled warmly at them. “You brought Snake Man here, right? And helped Shadow out of his personal hellhole, too? I… thank you. Thank you sincerely from the bottom of our cores. Words can’t describe my gratitude towards you and your brothers. I… couldn’t do that even when I tried my best, so please tell me. How did you manage to pull all of this off?” 

Flash smiled back at him warmly. “It’s a long story.” 

“But a FUN story! Ya wanna hear it?” Quick added, grinning. The speedy robot was met with Shadow, Snake, and Top all nodding eagerly and listening intently. He then hollered out to the remainder of the house. “HEY, IT’S STORYTIME! We’re gonna talk about what happened in Brazil!” 

Everyone in the house, Rock included, has never flooded to the living room more eagerly.

~~~~~

The sun had almost completely set. Dusk was taking over the sky.

And as it set, it painted the world in a plethora of warm hues and shades, casting reddish-purplish lighting upon everything before it disappeared for the night, before the moon would take its place and cast everything in cool colors instead. 

A lone black car drove through the mountain roads and through the dirt paths in the forest. Within the car held four very content Robot Masters, exhausted from all the commotion that’s happened within the past week. But as such, all things must end eventually, the commotion included. They hadn’t stayed long after the massive feast of a lunch they all ate. For them, it was time to go home and properly rest. 

Flash parked the car in its usual spot next to the warehouse that they’ve called home for a while now. They slowly got out and tiredly made their ways back into the warehouse. Their next collective plan of action all, in some way, involved faceplanting their bed and or partner and not moving for the rest of the night. 

Well, that’s at least what Flash thought they were all going to do. 

Just before he entered the doors to their home, a hand grabbed his own and tugged him backwards. He paused, before turning around and facing his partner. 

“Hey,” Quick said, his voice… rather quiet. “Could we chat a bit out here before we go in there and collapse on the bed?” 

“Oh?” Flash said, his own voice tired and soft. The two of them shifted closer to the outside wall of the building rather than the entrance. “What is it?” 

“Well, it’s a couple of things.” Quick said, shuffling closer to him. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.” 

“Oh yeah? What’s up?” Flash asked. 

“Okay, first--” The speedy robot began to express what’s on his mind first by leaning forward until his mouth found what it was looking for: Flash’s soft lips. The temporal robot paused for a second, before returning the kiss slowly. Quick hummed lightly into the kiss and cupped Flash’s jaw gently. He pressed softly, but needily into the kiss. Flash hummed back, easing into it and nearly melting when Quick broke the kiss much too quickly. 

Flash breathed softly, looking into Quick’s gorgeous blue eyes confusedly. His cheeks were dusted with a red blush. 

Quick, panting lightly, looked back into his partner’s beautiful bright green eyes. He swallowed and whispered, “I’ve been wanting to do that since yesterday. Actually, no. I’ve been wanting to just kiss you like this for a long time now. Just the two of us, ya know?” He then leaned forward and smooched Flash again, who returned it eagerly. Flash’s white and yellow hands found their way around Quick’s waist and Quick gently pushed Flash mid-kiss until the temporal robot’s back touched the wall of the building. They eventually parted lips again, the both of them panting and blushing. 

“Oh… me too,” Flash said breathily, never taking his gaze off of Quick’s eyes. He could get lost in them, they were so beautiful… “We just… need to find the right time and privacy,” He purred, before this time, he leaned in and kissed Quick back needily. They smooched again, getting lost in one another’s lips and love. Their cores began to whir harder… 

They parted again. “Flashy, I can’t-- I can’t wait anymore. I’m not patient like you,” Quick purred. “I love you so much, I need you, Flashy…” He leaned down and began to plant tender, wet kisses on his partner’s neck. Oh… he hasn’t felt _this_ in a while… Flash inhaled sharply through his mouth and began to sweat and make small, hushed noises under his breath. His face began to burn much redder. “I’ve been thinking about you all day. And not just that, but don’t you feel it?” 

“I love you so much, too. A-and feel what…” Flash breathed heavily and shuddered, closing his eyes. Those kisses felt way too good on his body… it sent electric chills racing through his circuits. It took all of his willpower not to let out any kind of loud noise while he was receiving Quick’s loving and tempting kisses… 

The scarlet robot left a trail of tender kisses up and down Flash’s neck, leaving the blue robot trembling and biting his lip to hold back any loud noises. He whined and whimpered weakly under Quick, and said speedster finally broke away from his neck. Flash opened his eyes to see Quick licking his lips with a half-lidded, heavily blushing expression, and it did a glorious job with overwhelming Flash with chills running through his body. It wasn’t fair how utterly handsome and gorgeous Quick was to him. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s been five years…” Quick purred to him in a low, sensual voice. 

Those chills running through his body became way too much for Flash to just sit there and take and handle, and he let out a soft growl, face flushed. His hands left Quick’s waist and now grabbed either side of his face, tugging him closer and kissing him a little harder, eliciting a small, surprised noise out of Quick. Their kiss softened and they melted into the kiss. Eventually, they parted again, panting more. “I know. I feel it so much, Quick. I want you so badly.” 

The two stared into each other’s eyes again, and then quickly kissed again. They panted, taking a moment to breathe, and Quick gently grabbed Flash’s hands off of his face. He laced his fingers through them, and their rings bumped into one another. “Oh, you know I do, too. Also, how much money do we still have left?” He asked. 

“I-I don’t know. Metal’s been keeping count of all our funds.” 

“Okay, then I’ve got an idea,” Quick purred, his lips curling upwards into a particular kind of warm smirk that Flash only saw whenever they were alone together, “We’re gonna convince Metal tonight to make him give us whatever money we have left so we can get ourselves some proper privacy. He’ll probably buy it if we tell him that he and Crashy get the warehouse all to themselves.” 

“You mean like… a room, right?” Flash asked, catching his breath. “And you don’t mean we’re gonna leave tonight, are we?” 

“You got it, sweetheart. And hell no, we’re still tired as all scrap. Also, think about this. When we get one, you know what most rooms have? Bathrooms. Bathtubs.” 

“Alright, how much more possibly sold can you get me?” Flash chuckled. He leaned forward and the two kissed again, tenderly and lovingly. Their kiss broke with them smiling and blushing. 

“Oh, I can go on if you want me to~.” Quick teased, fluttering his eyelashes at him. Flash let out a soft giggle when they touched his own eyelids.

“Oh yeah~?” Flash cooed, before his smile widened. “Actually, we did just come back from one hell of an adventure… and your builtday’s 2 days from today, too.” 

“Oh my god, if you give me builtday distractions, I will find a way to somehow love you even more than I already do, Flashy~,” Quick said, grinning so widely and blushing red. 

“For you? I’d give you distractions, good chills… I’ll give you whatever you want. My handsome, stunning, strong Quick~...” Flash cooed, flushing red again. 

“Aw, Flashyyyyy~... I missed this so much, holy shit.” Quick giggled. Their hands broke away from each other and found themselves on their partner’s hips. “You know? I feel completely awake right now. If you want…” 

“Quick, no. We’ll get our time very soon. And we still need to rest, and Metal and Crash are literally a dozen or so feet away from us.” 

“Okay, okay…” Quick chuckled and leaned forward to give Flash a gentle kiss on the Metal Blade scar wedged in between his eyes, and then another on his lips. “We should probably head back soon, before they start to think we ran off somewhere.” 

“Yeah, yeah you’re right. Come on, let’s go back in. I’ve got so many cuddles to give you…~” 

Ohhhh, he’s missed those, too. There was so much he missed doing with Flash, he felt deprived… He’d be lying if he said that he hadn’t even daydreamed of these moments together. Quick pulled himself off of the wall, softly grabbed and held Flash’s hand, and the two made their way back into the warehouse, feeling tired but warm and absolutely loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GHGHGHGHHHF  
> This one was a particularly hard chapter to write, because there were SO MANY CHARACTERS to write! I'm gonna try next time to not write so many in the same scenes, since there are so many Robot Masters in Megaman that I'd love to write... 
> 
> ALSO!! I've been planning for a long while of possibly writing a FlashQuick NSFW one-shot before I write Chapter 16, that gets into more detail of their own distractions~ Would you guys be interested in that? I would post it as a separate work from this one but I'd write that it's tied in with this. (I also wanted to write another MetalCrash one, too. Would you guys like that as well? I have really cute ideas for that~) 
> 
> Please comment and tell me all of your thoughts! I love getting comments and reading them aaaah! <333  
> See you next time, Space Boy~ 
> 
> **UPDATE:** The FlashQuick NSFW has been written!! : http://archiveofourown.org/works/11501109  
>  (Read only if you want to. There's no obligations...;;)


End file.
